The Way
by k.m.hardy
Summary: It's been five years since Moana has seen her favorite Demigod and now her people are under attack. She flees her island and travels through Lalotai and other familiar spots until they are reunited, but things are different now and Maui knows it: she's no longer that young kid he remembers, she's a fully grown woman. What will that do to their friendship?
1. The Chieftess

**Author Notes: I do not own Moana nor any character affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

 **Chapter One: The Cheiftess**

"This is the third grove we've planted, but the taro root is still not growing properly, chief."

Moana sighed as she looked at the withered crop, "Is there nowhere left on the island available to try for another grove, Hana?"

"There is one other spot we could try, but it is very rocky soil."

"Well, perhaps this islands rocks are a little more forgiving than what we're used to on Motunui, let's give it a shot."

The farmers nodded and walked away with what little crop they had harvested towards the new area they were directed to. As she watched them go, she didn't notice as someone came up behind her.

"Another taro grove, huh?"

Moana turned to see a young man standing there eating a banana: Ariitea was tall, well built, and had a face that most women dreamed of kissing. But to Moana, he was a friend that she had known since childhood and was secretly happy of his choice to come along to populate their new island of Kahoka. So happy in fact that she made him her lead advisor and he made her responsibilities much easier than doing them alone.

"I don't understand it," she shook her head, "We were very careful about planting this year and had our farmers pay extra special attention to the taro roots needs and we still cannot get them to grow to their full size without rotting or withering away."

"Perhaps they won't reach the size we're used to here, maybe we should instead plant a few extra groves and harvest them whilst their young even though they're smaller. At least then they won't be withered away and there would be plenty of taro."

"… That's actually a really great idea," she smiled, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Happy to help," he smiled.

"Would you run up to the farmers and tell them to replant in all three of the groves we've tried? Let's give your theory a test before we completely lose a crop to rocky soil."

"Sure thing," he nodded, "Why don't you take a break and clear your mind? You look a little worn out."

She breathed out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, I could actually use a break from all of this stress."

Ariitea chuckled and ran in the farmers direction whilst Moana wiped her forehead and turned towards the beach.

 _Five years,_ she thought to herself, _Five years on this new island and I can't seem to get my people to be as prosperous as my dad can…_

Of course that wasn't the only thing on her mind; her parents were due for a visit any day now. It was always nice to see them but somewhere in their time on Kahoka they would make a point to 'remind' her that she would soon need to choose a husband to help her rule her people. They would visit once every six months and she both dreaded and looked forward to it every time. But now she was particularly antsy with the seasons crops not growing the way that anyone would have liked: the coconuts were scarce, bananas too small, even the fishing grounds were constantly changing and they still hadn't quite figured out the patterns each school of fish had set in the lagoon.

A year before they had settled on this brand new island, she had returned from her greatest adventure and had finally convinced her father and subsequently their people to return to their heritage of voyaging and had taught them all how to wayfind. Once everyone who wanted to voyage with her was ready, they boarded their boats and left Motunui in search of their own island. Moana smiled as she thought about that day: gently helping her father steer the canoe whilst watching the horizon, teaching her mother how to tie a quick knot, climbing to the top of the mast and looking out over the blue horizon and then hearing a loud screech to her right only to turn and see a giant hawk cruise right past her to the front of the convoy of boats.

 _Maui,_ Moana smiled as she thought about that moment. It made her laugh to remember that everyone looked puzzled as she waved to the humongous bird that seemed to be guiding them, none of them knowing his true identity. But she recognized his antics and followed him as he flew until he lead them to their island which they named Kahoka, meaning 'The Star.' She thought it was a perfect name for their new home since she and Maui bonded over him teaching her to wayfind and read the stars, in a way it was a reminder to her of him. After they landed on the shore, her people started as the Demigod shifted his shape in front of all of them, and they were even more startled to watch the young daughter of the chief run up to him and throw her arms around him in a tight hug. Truthfully, she enjoyed the confusion almost as much as she enjoyed hugging her best friend again. When they finally let each other go, Moana immediately introduced him to her people and encouraged them to look at Maui as one of their own: accepting him and giving him the love he so desperately desired. By the end of the day, her people had grown so fond of the Demigod and he swore an oath to them that he would always watch over them and they would prosper. Everyone cheered and praised him and had a feast in his honour; and when the morning came he said his goodbyes, shape shifted into his favourite giant hawk form, and flew away. It was sad for her to watch him go, but she knew he had a lot to do as a Demigod of the wind and sea and focused her attention on her new home.

It took nearly a year to get a village set up and then her parents left her on her own to govern her people. Her first year as chief wasn't bad, but it wasn't smooth either. She thanked the Gods every day that her people were so understanding that everything was new to them and to her and they would all need time to adjust to their surroundings, but things never seemed to go up. Every year it got harder and harder, and before she knew it she had stopped wayfinding all together because she was too busy trying to lead the people that looked to her.

She reached the beach and sat down on a rock that was positioned near the water, waiting patiently. A smile crossed her face as the waves that had barely touched her toes swirled up into a crescent shape in front of her.

"Hello, Ocean."

The crystal clear water gave her a quick nod then splashed her, making her sputter and laugh.

"I've missed you, too," she smiled.

A moment later, the wave returned carrying a beautiful conch and sat it down in her lap. Moana sighed as she held up the beautiful gift.

"I know," she nodded sadly, "And I wish I could, but my people need me here. I can't go wayfinding now. Not until things are a little bit better under control."

The Ocean didn't move; it seemed to stare straight through her, testing her resolve. When she didn't change her poise, it had a clever idea and dropped back into itself.

Moana looked around, hoping she didn't offend it into running away when a giant wave seemed to crash onto the sand with purpose nearby. She walked over to it and looked down to see pebbles placed very carefully into the shape of a giant fishhook on the shore with the Oceans crescent head sitting up and looking at her as she looked over the sculpture.

"Yeah," she nodded, hoping she understood its meaning, "Maybe if he had been here, things would be better."

The Ocean gave a sad nod then disappeared, leaving the young chief alone with her thoughts.

AUTHOR NOTES: I would love some feedback. I have written a lot of fanfiction but I've never published it, it was all for me. I'm taking a chance here making this available to the world to see how I think things would go for these two characters. I hope everyone enjoys :)


	2. An Unexpected Visit

**I do not own Moana nor any of the characters affiliated, all rights belong to Disney.**

A boat arrived the next day carrying Chief Tui and Sina as well as a few others that Moana recognized. As soon as they were spotted, she and most of the village came to the shore and prepared a large welcoming party to their neighbouring tribe and old friends. As soon as they set foot on the beach, their daughter sprinted towards them and they wrapped each other in a warm embrace whilst the rest of the travellers carried some supplies to the villagers.

"How much did you bring!?" Moana exclaimed, eyes widened at how much food was brought with her family.

"The Gods have been extremely good to us this year," Tui smiled, "We grew more food than we really know what to do with, so I thought we'd bring some of the bounty with us just in case things haven't picked up this year yet."

Moana felt her stomach twist in knots as he spoke; she knew she wouldn't be able to hide how her people were faring during their visit but she didn't think her father would make any concern about their harvest, though that did nothing to calm her nerves.

Sina sensed her uneasiness and brushed a loose hair behind her daughters ear, "It's alright, my little minnow. You don't believe our ancestors had it easy the first few years they settled on Motunui, do you?"

"Of course they didn't," Tui piped in, realizing his actions weren't as much of a comfort as he had hoped, "Every new island takes getting used to before you will find its rhythms. Once you do, everything will fall into place."

Moana did her best to smile and mask how embarrassed she felt, and she was thankful that it was believable enough as her parents seemed to buy it and turned to walk towards her village and she followed.

"Tonight, we welcome our honoured guests to Kahoka!"

Moana glanced up at Ariitea as he made the official announcement at the banquet of her parents arrival.

"Let us thank the Gods for bringing them to us safely, and let us also give thanks to our brave Chief Moana: Master Wayfinder, Defeater of Te'Ka, Favoured of the Goddess Te Fiti, for another successful year on Kahoka! LOKAHI!"

"LOKAHI!" the villagers shouted back, then the festivities started. The roaring bonfire made the dancers movements appear almost demonic as they moved about, fervently expressing themselves before the crowd. A delicious array of meats, fruits, and preserved wines were served and everyone revelled in the company of their visiting friends. Everyone seemed to be completely at ease except for Moana. Ariitea noticed her quiet demeanour and sat down next to her whilst her parents danced with the other villagers.

"Cheer up," he nudged her shoulder, "You're doing great. You're parents are here, they're happy, and our people are happy too. There's no reason to sulk."

"I know," she nodded, "I had just hoped that this year our harvest would be bountiful and then..."

"... Then you could go wayfinding?"

Slowly, she nodded.

"I know you miss it, no one can blame you for missing it. I don't think anyone would blame you if you decided to leave for a couple of days, you know."

"No," she shook her head, "My place as chief is here helping my people until we are completely on our feet. Once the harvests and the fishing has picked up, then I will be a wayfinder again."

Ariitea wanted to argue but he was interrupted by Sina who walked over and tapped his shoulder, "Excuse me, would you mind if I steal my daughter away for a moment?"

Unable to push it further, he rose to his feet, "Certainly. Good evening, chief."

"Good evening, Ariitea," Moana replied as he walked away and her mother took his place.

Once they were as alone as they could get, Sina cleared her throat, "So, how's it goin?"

"Well, everything's as you've seen, mom: the people are happy and working hard though our harvests aren't-"

"No, no," she shook her head, "I mean how's _it_ goin?"

 _...That didn't take too long,_ Moana rolled her eyes as she came to understand the true question behind the question her mother asked, "Nobody special yet, though a few suitors from some of the neighbouring islands have come and attempted to court me but... in the end it was always the title they wanted and not so much me."

"The title of Chief?"

"No, the title of 'Husband to the great Moana: Master Wayfinder and Defeater of Te'Ka'."

"Ahh," Sina nodded sadly, understanding her daughters loneliness towards finding a husband, "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"In fact the last one didn't even stay a week before I sent him on his way," Moana chuckled, "He kept going on about what strong and beautiful bloodlines we would make before even telling me his name!"

"Ugh, _that's_ attractive!" Sina laughed with her.

"Right!?"

The two women sat and giggled as Moana went into details of the suitors who came and made sloppy attempts to win her hand until the fires began to die down and everyone started departing to their huts. Moana walked her parents to her own hut where there was a guestroom waiting for them when Tui asked, "What about Ariitea?"

"What about him?" Moana asked.

"Well, no one said you could only marry a suitor from another island."

Moana felt her face turn red and she looked towards the ground.

"It wouldn't hurt to talk to him about it, right?" Tui pushed.

"What I believe-" interrupted Sina "-your father is trying to say is that you two do work very well together, and he knows you and respects you for you, Moana. Who better to marry and help you as chief than your best friend?"

Their daughter smiled outwardly even though her heart fluttered, "Except he's not my best friend."

Tui and Sina looked at each other then back to Moana.

"Maui was a great help to you," Tui said, breaking the silence, "He was a great help to all of us. And I know that you mean it when you say that he's your best friend, but he's a Demigod. Immortal. Your life is just a small moment in time for him, Moana. He's too busy fighting demons and protecting all humans to stay here and be your husband."

Her eyes shot up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't say that I wanted to marry Maui. I'm just saying that he's my best friend, not Ariitea."

"Okay, well, the point is that you are friends with Ariitea, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, why not consider courting him?" Sina smiled, her fondness of the man apparent in her eyes.

Moana chuckled at the thought, "I'm not sure that Leikea would like that."

"What? Leikea and...?"

"Yup," she nodded, "They're planning on getting married once he finishes paying her father the two cows and six pigs he promised, and he's only three pigs away from settling the bill."

Her parents stood there silently, feeling slightly embarrassed at their blunder but Moana laughed and hugged them, "Don't worry, guys. Maybe one day I will get married, but until then I don't know how a husband could help me with running this island anymore than what I'm already doing. Besides, Ariitea is really the one that runs the island more than I do. He's a great advisor and he helps me out a lot more than you think-"

Their conversation was cut off when the low and airy blow of the conch shell horn sounded. The three of them turned towards the sound and saw a number of ships on the horizon under the moonlight and starting to enter the lagoon.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Tui asked.

"No," Moana shook her head.

"Could it be another suitor?" Sina asked.

"I'm not sure... but I have a feeling this isn't a friendly call. There's too many ships for it to be a suitor, they normally only arrive with three or four but there has to be at least ten in the lagoon."

"CHIEF!"

They looked towards the direction of the outburst to see a middle aged, stocky man running towards them with something in his hand. As he got closer, Moana recognized it to be an arrow. Her eyes widened and she called out, "What is it!?"

"The Fefe Tele!"

"What!?" Tui yelled, startling the women, "Are you sure!?"

The messenger handed him the arrow: white with red and black markings along the tail and finished with a black feather.

"Wait, who are the Fefe Tele?" Moana asked, confused as to how her father had heard of them but she hadn't, "Pirates?"

"Worse," Tui growled as he handed the arrow back to the man, "Moana, wake the village, get the women and children into the jungle as fast as you can and tell the men to prepare for battle."

"Battle!?" She gulped, suddenly feeling very frightened, "Dad, we don't have _any_ real weapons! Only a few bows and arrows and some spears, but nothing that could do any real harm in a _battle!_ Especially against that many!"

"She's right, Chief Tui," The older man confirmed, "We're not prepared for an attack like this."

Dread settled inside Moana's stomach; guilt for not being better prepared for any attack that might come to her island and now her people would pay the price for it. She had no idea what to do.

Tui only took a moment to think before he barked out, "Alright, wake the village and everyone run for cover to the jungle," Tui ordered, "DO IT NOW!"

The messenger ran off to follow out his orders and Tui turned, grabbed Moana's arm, and began running towards the beach away from the Lagoon and Sina followed, "Your boats are positioned over there in the cove still, right?"

"Yeah, but dad I have to help my people! I can't just run to the boats first! I have to help them with an evacuation!"

"... There isn't going to be an evacuation."

... _What?_ Moana turned to her mother and saw tears coming from her eyes, obviously aware of what would happen next.

"Moana, listen to me," Tui said as they kept running, "The Fefe Tele are going to come in here and raid the village and then make everyone their slaves until this island has nothing left to give them, that should give you about two months."

"Wait, what are you talking about, dad? How do you even _know_ who these people are?"

"They came to Motunui, Moana," Sina spoke, her voice cracking, "Long before you were born, when your father and I were young. But our people were well established and our defences ready, we were able to fight them off before they could take control of our island. But word spread of their abominable actions so we had time to prepare for them."

"After they were defeated, the few that were left that managed to get away with their leader, Ruatapu, and disappeared. No one has seen nor heard of the pirates since. And now their armies have been rebuilt and they're back to raiding island after island, consuming everything in their path," Tui finished as they arrived towards the cove, "Now, my daughter, you must flee before they can find you."

"What? NO!" Moana shook her head, tears streaming down her face, "You taught me a chief never leaves their people but looks for every way to help them!"

"And that's what you must do now," Sina said, "You must leave and find Maui again."

"If anyone can fight the Fefe Tele, it's a Demigod," Tui nodded, "And there is no one on this island who is a better wayfinder than you. You must go!"

"But... but what about you?" Moana sobbed, the thought of what could happen making her heart sink into her stomach.

"We will stay behind and help your people, giving you what time we can. Remember, you only have two months to find Maui, bring him back, and defeat the Fefe Tele for good before they will have consumed everything on this island and enslave everyone on it."

She looked at her parents, desperately trying to think of another plan but to no avail. Finally, she grabbed them both and hugged them tighter than she ever had in her life and whispered, "I love you both... and I'll be back."

The Chief and his wife held her tightly in return then finally let her go. Their hearts felt heavy as they watched her run down the mountain to the cove where the canoes were waiting. When she was out of their sight, they took each others hand and ran back up the mountain towards the village to join with the feigned escape.

Moana jumped from the last ledge and landed just before her canoe; the spiral in the mast was lit up by the moonlight and it seemed to call to her as she approached it. With one final look up the mountain, she turned around and pushed the boat into the sea and away from her island, her people, and her family. It nearly killed her to do it, but time was running out for her to make her escape and she knew she couldn't waste another precious second of it. The wind was blowing against her sails so she lowered them and pushed on her oar with all of her might to get past the waves and the current.

"Ocean?!" She cried out and in no time at all, the crescent head appeared to her side, "Help me!"

It nodded then disappeared and she felt the back of her canoe raise up as an enormous wave came up and pushed her out into the deep blue horizon, and away from Kahoka. Moana swallowed the lump in her throat and whispered, "Now, to find Maui... wherever he is..."

Author Notes: Chapter two and things are starting to get a lot more intense :) I would love some feedback please!


	3. Monsters and Goddesses

**I do not own Moana or any other characters pertaining to the story. All rights belong to Disney.**

The morning sun shone brightly in Moana's eyes as she headed East; with no fishhook constellation in the stars to follow, she could only guess where Maui was and her first thought was maybe Lalotai. _Why else would Maui have disappeared for five years if not because he was battling monsters?_ She thought to herself logically. She couldn't come up any other reason why he would stay away for so long, not after the adventure they had shared together.

Three days and nights at sea and she was getting weary, the lack of practice obviously taking its toll. She started to wonder if she was even going in the right direction when she spotted something in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out the shape of a spire of rocks and she crowed to the sky, "WHOOHOO! Lalotai, here I come!"

It only took a couple more hours before she reached the side of the mountain, tied off her canoe, and looked to the west to see the sun starting to set. Realizing it wouldn't be to her advantage to go into the realm of monsters exhausted, she decided to rest for the night and would climb the mountain first thing in the morning. Once she got comfortable, the anxiety of not really knowing where Maui was started to make her stomach gurgle and she hoped she didn't waste three days of her precious time for nothing. _Please, please, please be here..._

Almost immediately after the sun disappeared behind the blue horizon, Moana was fast asleep.

She woke before the sun had even started to shine the next morning; feeling much more refreshed and after chowing down on a mango and some dried fish, attaching a small blade to her ankle (memories of before reminding her to be on the cautious side), she began her journey upwards. The climb was as fast as she remembered and before she knew it she had reached the top. Looking down, she recognized the carved face that resembled a monster in its own right. A shiver ran up her spine as she braced herself for a big jump, barely repeating the odd chant she remembered Maui doing when they came looking for Tamatoa. With a thump, she carefully landed on her feet and the mouth of the ugly sculpture parted, but only just. _I guess it really does take the strength of a Demigod to open this thing,_ she thought as she quickly squeezed her way through the widest gap before it could close on her. Having just cleared it, she started falling downwards and the entrance slammed shut, narrowly missing crushing her hands.

Down, down, down she fell and barely saw the surface of the water in time to hold her breath before she streamed through the glowing purple hue to her destination. As soon as she broke through the surface of the water, she gasped for air and quickly angled herself to land on her feet as best as she could, praying she wouldn't do her body any serious injury without Maui there to break her fall that time. Thankfully, some bright green moss had grown over the rocks and was an enormous help as she landed squarely on her feet.

"And she sticks the landing," she giggled quietly. Looking around, she found a path downwards to the lair of the giant obnoxious crab she remembered and followed it. As soon as she turned the corner, she stopped herself from gasping too loud: there, still lying on his back, was the remains of Tamatoa. His flesh had either withered away or was eaten away by whatever horrors dwelled down there but Moana didn't want to entertain either thought. Gingerly, she walked towards the giant corpse to examine him, hoping for a clue of some sort that would help her journey, when the smell of decaying flesh hit her and she had to cover her mouth to prevent throwing up. After a moment, and under control again, she covered her nose and kept walking when she saw something glinting from the old lair out of the corner of her eye.

 _... I'll probably have better luck poking around in there than looking at a dead crab._

She turned away, grateful to get away from the horrible smell, and carefully walked inside the cave. Now that all of Tamatoa's treasure was outside of it, it was really dark save the light coming from the hole in the ceiling. Moana squinted her eyes and peered through the darkness at the walls of the cave, not sure what to look for but hoping for _something_ that might either be Maui or lead her to him. Her heart sank as nothing stood out.

"... Maui?" she whispered.

Silence answered her.

She swallowed and tried again a little louder, "Maui?"

Suddenly there in the dark, there were eight bright eyes staring at her, then another eight, then eight more. Suddenly the whole dark of the cave was filled with eyes and screeching, horrible sounds echoed towards her. She didn't waste a moment to turn and bolt for the nearest geyser. She was almost to it when she tripped over a piece of Tamatoa's decaying shell and the geyser erupted before she could hitch a ride. Not knowing how long it would be before another one would fire, she grabbed the blade on her leg and turned just in time to stop one of the monstrous 8-eyed bats from sinking its claws into her. The horrible creature squealed in pain before it stopped moving and collapsed on top of her. The other bats screeched as if they all felt the pain of their fallen brother; as quickly as she could, Moana pushed its carcass off and ran for the geyser again, barely catching it as it erupted and launched her towards the surface of the human world.

The next thing she knew, she was on the sandy shore. On instinct, her hands ran over her whole body and checked to see that all of her limbs were still attached. Relief washed over her and she collapsed on her back.

"Well... that was stupid of me," she muttered under her breath as she panted in relief.

The ocean splashed her and she sat up sputtering, "What? I didn't know where else to look! Do you have any ideas?"

The crystal clear wave suddenly morphed itself into the shape of a mountain that, if looked at close enough, resembled a woman sleeping.

"... Te Fiti?"

The wave nodded.

"... Well, at least I won't have to worry about being eaten there."

The wave nodded again quickly and disappeared. Moana looked around and saw her canoe still attached to the rocks on her right. After she dusted the sand off of herself, she headed over and prepared for another few days journey.

Five days headed south and finally the beautiful, lush, green island came into view. Moana smiled as she thought about the last time she was there: meeting the Goddess face to face after restoring her heart and how excited Maui had been when he received his new fishhook. She remembered watching as the beautiful Goddess went back to sleep and she hoped it wouldn't be rude to try and wake her again. As soon as her boat was beached on the shore, she jumped off and dropped to her knees.

"Goddess Te Fiti," she prayed reverently, "I need your help..."

She had barely gotten those words out of her mouth when suddenly the island trembled and Moana looked down to see herself being lifted away from the shore and towards the eastern side of the island where she could recognize the Goddess' face. A gentle smile crept over Te Fiti's face as she brought Moana closer. The Chief leaned her head forward and touched her forehead to the Goddess's and continued:

"My island is under attack from the Fefe Tele, my people are slaves to them and they're killing my island. I need to find Maui, but I don't know where he is. Do you know where he went?"

Te Fiti leaned away and looked at Moana sadly before shaking her head no. Moana sighed and looked down, "Okay, thank you for answering me. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

The Goddess smiled gently and nodded her head before carefully setting Moana down by her canoe again, closing her eyes, and rolling back to sleep.

It was starting to get dark and sleep seemed like a wonderful idea to Moana, but first she ran into the forest to collect some loose wood for a fire that night and sought out a rock clearing. She was already almost nine days into her journey and was no further in accomplishing her task than she was when she started. Exhaustion and defeat took over and she knew she needed at least one really good night of sleep before she could face another day of this. Once her fire was crackling away, she curled up close but at a safe enough distance and closed her eyes.

"Maui..." she whispered, "where are you?"

The only sound that she heard was that of the wind blowing through the trees and the various small animals making noises through the night.

Moana shot her eyes open and turned to look at the sky; her eyebrows furrowed in frustration, she yelled out, "MAUI! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Only the wind and the animals replied once more.

She groaned and closed her eyes again, willing herself to sleep and deal with the problem in the morning. She felt as though she had laid there for hours tossing and turning, until finally sweet dreams took her as the fire died down.

Authors Notes: Thank you all for such wonderful feedback :) it's been very encouraging to keep posting my story. I would love more feedback, please review!


	4. Reunited

**I do not own Moana or any other characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

Moana woke up late the next day: the sun shone brightly in her face at almost mid-day. She shot up after realizing how much time she had lost and quickly ran down to the beach, shoved her canoe back into the water, and made her way into the open ocean again. When she looked behind and saw Te Fiti far off in the distance, she turned her attention towards the water.

"Well, what now?"

The crescent head popped out of the water and tilted its head at her, obviously questioning her meaning.

"Where else can we go? He wasn't at Lalotai, he's not on Te Fiti, I don't know where else to look."

The ocean suddenly disappeared. Moana looked around, wondering what she said to make it disappear like that, when suddenly she felt the whole boat make a jerky turn to her left that nearly knocked her into the water.

"Hey!"

The crescent head popped out of the water and peered at her again.

"What was that for?"

She watched curiously as the ocean seemed to point in the direction it shifted the boat. Moana looked where it pointed and cocked her head, "You want me to go that way?"

It nodded.

"Well, what's in that direction?"

The ocean emerged in an odd shape once again: bulbous and sparse and she noticed the shape of a hook on one of the rock type formations it made.

"... Do you want me to go back to the island where I first met Maui?"

The shape was replaced with the crescent head and nodded.

"Why on earth would he be there?"

The wave splashed her then disappeared.

She chuckled, "Okay, okay. Sorry. I guess it's worth a shot."

Moana placed her oar in the slot to steer, adjusted her sail to catch the wind, and sped away towards the pile of pebbles where she had first crashed her boat long before.

"That's the last of them, sir!"

The frightened villagers looked to one another as the Fefe Tele rounded them up; they had managed an escape into the jungle, buying them a little time to try and get to the far side of the island but were tracked down within a week. Now, two and a half weeks later, all of them were completely captured and huddled together, completely surrounded. Chief Tui and Sina held each other close as they looked up to see a very frightening figure stand before them.

"Ruatapu," Tui whispered as he clutched his wife.

The leader in question seemed to have barely aged a day, the only indicator of the thirty years since the Chief of Motunui had last seen him was the white streaks through the hair that only grew out of half of his head. Ruatapu had scars all over his body including one that went across his face and through his right eye, making him permanently blind on that side. The white, milky film in his blind eye made his appearance even more frightening to everyone that saw him. He was adorned only with a tattoo on his left which resembled a snake that spiralled around his arm until its vicious head rested on the top of his hand. Everyone cowered before him when his icy voice spoke:

"That was a very brave attempt. Stupid and otherwise annoying for us, but brave. So consider the 17 days we've spent hunting for you vermin your vacation. As of this moment, this island and everyone on it belongs to the Fefe Tele!"

The ruthless band that surrounded the frightened villagers began crowing to the sky. Tui and Sina looked at each other and prayed that their daughter had already accomplished what they had sent her to do.

Moana smiled when she saw the tiny, familiar pile of rocks dead ahead of her. She was almost close enough to see the scratch marks that counted the days in shapes of fishhooks and she chuckled thinking about how ridiculously pompous Maui had been when he first met her. So pompous that she had to smack him in the stomach with the oar he had 'tweeted' on, whatever that was supposed to mean. Reaching the beach, she pulled the canoe up onto the sand and began looking around though she didn't feel entirely hopeful. She made her way to the little cave (which was no longer blocked for whatever reason) and walked in, chuckling as she saw the familiar destroyed statue on the ground but the nose still completely intact. Walking over, she knelt down beside a large piece of face and put her hand on the cheek of the Demigods likeness.

 _... Where are you, Maui?_ She wondered as she closed her eyes, all hope fading away.

"Awe! Do you have any idea how many hundreds of thousands of hours that took to carve?!"

She shot her eyes open at the familiar voice and jumped to her feet, turning around to see a giant, hulking man at the mouth of the cave, holding a giant fishhook, and covered in shadow.

"Moana?" he said, his voice laced with shock. He took another step forward and the light from the hole above them shined down to reveal the Demigod.

"Maui!" Moana beamed as she ran to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping hers around his neck.

He was stunned but finally wrapped his own arms around her. She looked so different, so... grown up, he almost didn't recognize her. She was no longer the young kid he remembered: small and skinny. Now, she was a fully grown woman and he noticed the changes that came with immediately, especially as she hugged him. She leaned back to look at him and he was floored by her beautiful face, but he didn't have long to admire it because her fist hit his jaw with a loud 'SMACK!'

"Hey!" he protested, rubbing his chin.

"Where were you?!" She demanded, hoping to keep it together long enough to not let him see the tears fall from her eyes, "Five years! You've been gone for five years, Maui! I haven't seen you since my people first landed on Kahoka!"

 _Five years?_ he thought, _Has it really been that long since I've seen her? It's certainly not hard to believe with how different she looks..._

"Where have you been?!" She continued to yell, "I've been looking for you for almost three weeks! I haven't seen a sign of you ANYWHERE! You just... VANISHED!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, Curly," he held up his hands in defence, "I've been busy, okay? I missed a thousand years of pulling up islands and other Demigod stuff so I had a lot to catch up on."

"Too busy to even check in on your friend?" She snarled at him, a tear betraying her and rolling down her cheek.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that," Maui smiled his most charming smile, "I've missed you too, you know."

"You sure have a funny way of showing it," Moana stomped off through the mouth of the cave and back to her canoe.

He rolled his eyes and felt a tug on his chest. He looked down at Mini Maui who seemed to be both jumping for joy as well as gesturing for him to go after her; the mini Demigod's antics made him chuckle.

"What are doing out here anyways? Did you miss me that much you just had to come lookin for me?"

She glared at him as he waggled his eyebrows at her, his attempt at being funny not helping her anger.

"No, I came here looking for you because I need your help. Kahoka has been put under attack by the Fefe Tele."

"The who? I've never heard of those guys," he replied as he picked up his fishhook and followed her.

"The Fefe Tele, they're a murdering tribe that apparently have been missing in action for almost thirty years. They've attacked my village and enslaved my people... and my parents."

Mini Maui looked down sadly and guilt squeezed Big Maui's stomach, "How many were there?"

"I saw at least ten huge canoes enter our lagoon, maybe more. They brought a whole army."

"What? How did you escape?"

"My parents got me to a canoe before they landed on our shores and told me to come find you again because I'm the best wayfinder on the island. And they said I would only have about two months to save them before the Fefe Tele completely destroys Kahoka and enslave my people... or kill my people."

The silence that hung between them was awful for Maui; he felt so ashamed that he hadn't paid closer attention to her and the people that he had promised he would watch over and be their Hero again. Moana interrupted his thoughts as she continued very hotly.

"And I've spent three of those weeks trying to find you. Why are you even here, anyway? I thought you hated this little island."

"Well, just because I haven't popped in to say hi doesn't mean I haven't been listening. I heard you calling my name a little over a week ago, so I started looking for you. I thought about flying to Kahoka first, but something about that didn't feel right so I just kept flying every which way until I saw your canoe," he pointed to the spiral, "So I guess we got lucky."

"Wait, you heard me?"

"Yeah, did I never tell you that all you had to do to get my attention is call my name out?"

"... No, you conveniently forgot to share that little bit of trivia," she glared at her own stupidity. Realizing she could have summoned him all along only made the last five years hurt even more.

"Oh, sorry," he chuckled, "Well now you know."

Rolling her eyes, Moana pushed her canoe back into the water and jumped on, "Alright, well now I've found you so let's go."

"Go where? What's your plan?"

"Maui, I now only have a little over a month left to save my people and Kahoka, and finding you was the biggest part of any plan so let's go."

"Well that plan's not gonna do you much good, Moana," he said as he jumped onto the canoe, his momentum pushing it further out to sea as she raised the sail, "I can do a lot of things but fighting an army isn't one of them. And I'm definitely not going to let you put yourself in the middle of a bloodbath no matter how bad you want to save your people."

"Hey," she growled at him, "I can take care of myself, alright? I've been doing it on my own just fine. Not to mention what happened when I was looking for you."

Confused at her statement, he furrowed his eyebrows, "What? What happened? Where did you look?"

Huffing, she put down the oar and walked towards him, "If you have to know, I went to Lalotai first looking for you."

Maui froze, his eyes widened in fear, "You WHAT?!"

"Yeah, and I almost got killed by one of those giant bat things. But instead I killed it and escaped on a geyser in the nick of time," she smiled at him triumphantly, "So don't treat me like I'm a helpless-"

Moana shrieked as he grabbed her by the arms and lifted her to his eye level, "You went to the realm of monsters ALONE?!"

She suddenly felt a little afraid as the fire that burned in his eyes glared at her. Before she could respond, he continued his assault, "Moana, you're a mortal! Do you have any idea how dangerous, not to mention STUPID, that was?! I wasn't there to protect you! You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't!" She yelled back, "And you weren't there to protect me before!"

"I didn't think I'd have to!" He said even angrier, "I would have thought your husband could handle that responsibility just fine!"

Moana stopped herself from yelling back when she saw the flicker of hurt flash across his eyes as he said that. Of course he'd assume she'd already married, and as such she couldn't belong to him anymore.

"... Is that why you haven't reached to me for so long?" She asked him gently.

His features softened and he lowered his head as he set her down. She watched him turn around and sit on the edge of the boat in silence.

"Maui... is it?"

He took a deep breath and steeled himself before he answered her, "... I knew that when you had found a proper suitor, I couldn't be in your life anymore. You're the only mortal that I've ever felt any real love from, Moana. I didn't want to jeopardize your chances at happiness with another mortal by sticking around..."

She slowly walked towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "... You don't have to worry about that. I'm not married."

She turned away from him and focused on the sails to head out to the ocean.

His eyes widened at her statement. _What? She hasn't found a suitor? That's impossible, she's beautiful!_ He turned back to watch her as she worked, suddenly understanding why she felt so betrayed. Mini Maui nudged him, looking at him expectantly. There was a lot he would have to make up for now.

Authors Notes: Thank you everyone for the positive feedback :D It makes me so happy to know that you're enjoying my fanfiction so much! Keep the reviews comin! And also, I know you've all been begging for them to be together and don't worry, they will be ;) I believe in good pacing and proper tension build up, but be patient. It WILL happen, I ship these two so hard it's unreal! lol Hope you enjoy this chapter :D I'm trying to make sure I get a chapter published every day!


	5. Manu'maniti

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

They weren't out to sea more than a few hours and the tension was still uncomfortable. Maui kept trying to help Moana with the canoe but before he could do something, she had already rushed to do it. Whether it was out of spite or because she was just as nervous and needed something to do, he couldn't tell. Eventually he placed himself at the front of the boat and sat down, sure to stay out of her way. He glanced out at the vast ocean and wondered how he could begin to break the silence between them. Mini Maui kept running back and forth between his chest and his back, watching the both of them. Finally the small depiction got tired of the silence and kicked Maui in the chest.

"Ow!" he hissed under his breath and looked at the small, annoying tattoo, "What?"

Mini Maui pointed to his tiny head and then raised his shoulders questioningly, then he pulled the tattoo of Moana down beside him and hugged her.

"... She's too mad at me right now, buddy."

The tiny Demigod crossed his arms and glared at him, tapping his foot expectantly.

Maui rolled his eyes and went back to sulking.

Annoyed, Mini Maui grabbed the side of one tattoo and flicked it hard which made Maui flinch in pain. Fed up with the attitude, he flicked the little depiction to his back.

Moana heard the first little outburst of pain and watched with amusement as Maui sat there and quite literally argued with himself. Her attention focused on her travel mate, she didn't notice the ocean wave come up behind her and splash her.

"Hey!" She said that rather loudly, immediately getting Maui's attention.

The ocean sassily pointed to Maui before giving a sharp nod and disappearing. She turned back to see the Demigod watching her, and she swallowed, "... I guess Mini Maui isn't the only one trying to get us talking to each other."

He chuckled, "Guess we're in no position to argue with them, huh?"

She smiled and nodded, silence growing between them again. Hoping to close the distance between them, Maui stood up and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, look," he walked towards her, "I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have just left you alone like that. I should have checked in with you now and then to see how you were doing."

She looked up at him as he sat down directly in front of her, "Can you please forgive me?"

Though part of her was still hurt, the other part of her missed him even more. She carefully set down the oar and leaned forward into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck for a tight hug. Maui didn't hesitate to hold her that time and he wrapped his arms around her back as tightly as he could without crushing her. He didn't realize how much he had missed having her there until that moment, but there was something different about this embrace than the last time he truly hugged her. She seemed to... smell different to him. He never noticed that when they were travelling to Te Fiti, back then she smelled just like all mortals did to him. But now as her hair wafted around him, he was certain it was different. He inhaled her scent deeply while she stayed there in his arms and thoughts and feelings began to flash through him, new thoughts and feelings he'd never experienced before as long as he'd been alive. The rush was both amazing and terrifying to him and he could only describe it as... human. His eyes flew open and he was grateful that she pulled away before he could do anything to make the situation more uncomfortable. Moana leaned back on her legs, smiled at him, and his heart started to flutter.

She brought her hands down to his chest and said sweetly, "I can forgive you. I've missed you too much to stay mad at you."

His goofy smile made her giggle and she got to her feet, "Okay. So, do you have any ideas on where we can get our own army?"

Maui furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about it; there were many monsters and Gods that he knew about with armies but he doubted any of them would just let him borrow them. He would have to either raise one himself or earn one. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and a humongous smile crossed his face, _Earn one!_

"I know exactly where we can get an army, princess," he teased as he took her place on the boat, "Go on up to the mast and keep a lookout. Where we're headed, it ain't gonna be pretty."

"Oh, yeah?" She asked as she walked forward on the boat, "Worse than Lalotai?"

"Much," he nodded as he tested the current with his hand before steering them westward, "We're going to Manu'maniti."

Moana felt her blood run cold as said those words, "... Manu'maniti? The land of the damned?"

"That's the one."

"What could we _possibly_ hope to find there?" she walked back, the terror in her face evident, "Every legend I've _ever_ heard of Manu'maniti says that it's filled with evil spirits. Spirits who were once evil humans and the Gods punished them for their deeds, sending them there until they can settle their debt with them. And if that wasn't enough, I've also heard that some sort of... creature lives there, too?"

"The Leviathan," Maui smiled at her, "The legends are true."

"Oh, well that's just wonderful!"

He chuckled and continued, "The Leviathan is an ancient demon of Manu'maniti, but his real name is Taito: the very first soul to be damned. While everyone else who went to that realm found a way to settle their debt with the Gods and moved on to become another being in the mortal world, his debt was so great that eventually he gave up trying and instead declared himself ruler."

Moana shivered.

"A few other souls came along and tried to dispute that right with him, and a battle would ensue, and he'd win. In the process, he'd absorb their soul and become even stronger. Eventually he'd absorbed so many souls that his appearance was altered into that of a Leviathan, and he became a demon. And rather than let anyone who enters his domain have the opportunity to move on, they're all trapped in the land of the damned under his rule."

"... How is this supposed to give me hope that we'll save my people?"

Maui finished tying off the sail and walked towards her, "Because he's not a real demon, his right to rule _can_ be challenged. So here's the plan: we sale to Manu'maniti, I challenge the Leviathan to a duel, and when I win I will have control of the damned. We bring them with us, they fight the Fefe Tele, we get your island and your people _and_ your parents back, and they'll have the opportunity to move on to a new life in the mortal realm. It's a win for everybody."

"... Everybody except Taito, you mean," she narrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, well, he's never been happy so it's not like we'd be inconveniencing him that much," he laughed.

"Maui, you're talking about challenging a _demon!_ An ancient one at that!"

Mini Maui shared Moana's feelings and started chewing on his fingernails in fear.

"Oh, knock it off, tiny," Maui rolled his eyes, "You know there's no other way to do this."

"There has to be another way," she continued, interrupting their 'conversation', "Can't you ask the Gods or something for one?"

He looked at her squarely and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "Moana, in case you've forgotten, one of my many identities is 'Trickster.' So, there aren't many beings, mortal or otherwise, who like me, and it's not like I can call in any favours with the Gods. The only way to raise an army is to _earn_ one, and this is the only one that can be earned."

"But... he's possessed so many souls..."

"Exactly: souls. Souls of people who have already died and have only lived a human life. He's never been challenged by a Demigod before," he waggled his eyebrows at her and was happy to see a small smile cross her face, "Besides, in the last few years I've had a lot of practice with my hook in shapeshifting again, even into some pretty terrifying monsters. I think I've got a good chance at beating the bucket-head."

She laughed at the ridiculous insult and Maui thought he was hearing angels. He took the opportunity to push the wall of her hair behind her ear and lift her chin to look at him, "It'll be okay, I promise. I won't fail you again."

Moana kept her eyes focused on his as she took his hand in hers, "... Alright, but I'm coming with you."

His whole body language changed as soon as she said that but as soon as he opened his mouth to argue she covered it with her hand, "Don't even try, you're not gonna talk me out of it."

He grabbed her hand that covered his mouth, "Moana, Lalotai is like the beaches of Te Fiti compared to Manu-maniti, there is _no_ way I'm letting you go in there."

"And there is no way I'm letting you go in there _alone_ ," she argued back, "If you remember our history together, your battles have been a lot more successful when I'm there to back you up."

He couldn't argue with her there.

"And the only reason you're doing this is because _I've_ asked you to for the sake of my people, so what happens to you is on me. I'm coming with you and that's the end of it."

She turned away from him and walked back towards the mast, leaving him somewhat stunned.

"I could just tie you up and leave you on some island somewhere while I go, you know," he shot back at her.

She turned towards the water, "Ocean?"

The crescent head appeared as soon as it was called.

"Do you know where Manu'maniti is?"

The wave nodded.

"If Maui tied me up and left me on some island, would you help me get there?"

The wave nodded again then disappeared.

"Oh, come on!" Maui groaned.

"So it's settled then," she smiled devilishly, "You can either take me with you willingly and I can be there to back you up, or you can _try_ to ditch me and the ocean will just bring me there a little later and I'll _still_ be there to back you up. So I guess since the first option would be a heck of a lot less trouble for all of us, we're going to stick with that one."

Maui was speechless.

"Well then, next stop: Manu'maniti!"

Realizing this was a battle he would never win, he rolled his eyes and coaxed a little more wind into the sail, "Alright, fine. It's a two week trip to the entrance and we should both be ready for anything as we get closer. It's getting dark now, how about you get some sleep and I'll take the first shift?"

Sleep sounded like a wonderful idea but she didn't want to put all of the responsibility on him, "Are you sure? I can stay up."

He smiled at her gently, "You've been wayfinding for three weeks and I can tell you've hardly gotten any rest during that time. Go ahead and sleep, I'm fine."

A yawn betrayed her so she consented. Curling up beneath the mast, she began to close her eyes, "Alright, thank you. Goodnight, Maui."

"Goodnight, Moana."

"And Maui?"

"Yeah?"

"... Thank you, for doing this I mean."

He smirked, "You're welcome."

It didn't take too long for sleep to claim Moana and before he knew it, she was breathing deeply and peacefully. Though careful to keep watch of their direction, Maui stole a glance at her now and then. Once during the night, he didn't realize he'd been staring at her for so long that they had gotten a little off course until Mini Maui kicked him to get his attention back. Quickly correcting his error, his focus returned to the stars until something the small tattoo was doing caught his attention. He looked down to see Mini Maui staring at the sleeping Chief with hearts in his eyes before looking back up to the Demigod with a knowing smirk.

"Shut up," he rolled his eyes and flicked the little depiction to his back.

Authors Notes: As you can tell, I'm big fans of Mini Maui and the Ocean kind of being these two's sidekicks and sort of fangirling over them as well lol Thank you again for such wonderful reviews :D don't forget to review this one!


	6. Moments and Tattoos

**I do not own Moana nor any other characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

The trip was wonderful for the two of them; Moana listened with fascination as Maui regaled her with the details of his Demigod duties and how many monsters he had fought since their last encounter. He had even acquired some new tattoos for his deeds which he was more than happy to show her. Though she thought that her life as Chief would've been too dull for him to hear about, he insisted on learning about her life while he was away. She told him of the difficult time the farming had been, the fishing temperaments, even the suitors who had tried to court her. Though she found each memory amusing to talk about, she couldn't help but notice how he would clench his fist any time she talked about a suitor. Not thinking too much of it, she went on to tell him about how her parents were doing and how much better they were at wayfinding since they had begun that tradition again. Maui watched her as she spoke; completely enthralled with the way she would move her hands to emphasize a point or describe a scenario, he hardly heard what she was saying most of the time. His concentration only broke when he opened the compartment in the floor to get something to eat and noticed that it was almost empty.

"We're gonna have to make a pit stop."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"We're almost completely out of food. We've got one very old banana and a coconut left."

She leaned over and peered down into the compartment and sighed, "Alright, you better take over then because I have absolutely no idea where we are."

Chuckling, he stood up and walked to the stern, "We're only a day away from the entrance to Manu'maniti. There's a little island up ahead. We'll stop there for the night and resupply, then in the morning we'll be on our way."

Moana nodded and climbed to the top of the mast to look out. She saw the island he spoke of immediately and smiled, grateful to have another night off of the boat for a good rest. The island itself wasn't very big but there was plenty growing on it; immediately she saw some mango trees with the fruit looking tantalizingly ripe for picking. Once they had pulled ashore and tied off the canoe, they made their way into the dense forest looking for fresh water and found a beautiful pool and waterfall within ten minutes and decided to make camp there.

Moana started gathering sticks for a fire but Maui stopped her, "No fires tonight."

"What? Why not? It's freezing."

"Trust me, with how close we are to the land of the damned, you do not want to do anything to attract attention, _especially_ at night."

She sighed and looked around for some leaves or something to make as a blanket instead and was grateful to find a banana tree nearby. After pulling off a few of the large petals, she curled up underneath of them and tried to sleep to no avail. The wind suddenly picked up and nearly blew her makeshift blankets off of her so she clutched them tighter and curled up into a fetal position trying to have her own body heat warm her up. Her teeth clacked together, betraying how cold she really was. She looked over at Maui who was laying on his side and holding perfectly still, not bothered at all by the cold, and she envied him.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts (or he heard her teeth chattering), he opened his eyes and looked at her, "You still cold?"

"F-f-f-freez-z-zing..."

He cleared his throat and got up, walked over, and laid down closely behind her. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her close to him, but she made no effort to move away. Rather she snuggled into him as tightly as she could. He was so warm that her teeth stopped chattering instantly which made him smile. He rolled out his arm and she took the hint to lay her head on it as a pillow naturally.

"Better?" she could hear him smiling.

"Much," she nodded, feeling strangely at ease in his arms and lying on his muscles. When he made his way towards her, she was afraid she would be too uncomfortable with what he was offering her but was surprised to find that it wasn't uncomfortable at all but just the opposite: it felt natural to her. It was almost as if she belonged there. That thought made the pit of her stomach feel as though someone had set loose some butterflies in it. She quickly pushed it out of her mind and closed her eyes, enjoying the wonderful warmth as she sailed away to dreamland.

Maui watched her as she drifted. When he was sure she was completely out, the protective arm reached up to caress her face and shoulders. The innocent act had brought on a very new and _human_ response which made him blush. He put his arm back where it was, holding her waist, and closed his eyes, willing the uncomfortable feeling away. _Pull yourself together, Maui! She doesn't see you like that and she never will. Just be happy that she cares about you, that's all you ever needed._ The God part of him agreed with his thoughts, but the human part of him wanted more. He took a deep breath and curled around her, willing himself to sleep as he held on to the beautiful woman in his arms.

Moana woke up early the next morning to find an arm still around her waist. It took her a moment to remember why it was there but then once she did a smile crossed her face and she turned around to look at its owner. Maui snored softly and she had to stifle a giggle; she didn't want to wake him yet, who knew how often he actually slept? A familiar tattoo caught her eye and she found herself fixed on it: the mini Moana next to Mini Maui (who was asleep as well), and positioned right over his heart. With a will of their own, her fingers came up and lightly brushed against the story that meant so much to her. Almost as soon as they did, a larger hand covered hers. She looked up in alarm to see Maui awake with a gentle, curious smile on his face as he looked down at her. Her spine shivered and she felt as though she needed to catch her breath.

"Hey," He spoke softly.

An unfamiliar blush crept up her neck as his eyes bore into hers, "Hey."

"What were you looking at?"

She suddenly felt very self conscious and ashamed to think she had the right to stare at his tattoos, let alone touch them. The last time she did that, she remembered it being a very intense and emotional trip for him as he admitted how badly he wanted human love after being abandoned by his family.

"Um... this one," she pointed to her depiction then quickly averted away from his gaze, "Sorry, I shouldn't have without your permission."

His hand left hers and moved to her face, pushing the loose strands of hair behind her ear before his fingers came down underneath her chin and lifted her eyes back up to meet his, "You're allowed to look anywhere you like, Moana."

She wanted to respond but anything that came to mind of what she could say didn't feel adequate enough; for him to let her see him in such an intimate and personal way was overwhelming. Not knowing what else she could do, she leaned forward and hugged him tightly, laying her head on his chest.

Maui wrapped his arms around her just as tightly and stroked her hair. He suddenly thought about kissing her and he heard his heartbeat increase in tempo. Alarm washed over him but he just didn't want to let her go yet, and he hoped she couldn't tell.

But she could.

"Maui?"

"Yeah?"

"Your heart is pounding," she said softly, feeling her own heart start to race.

His face felt heated in embarrassment so he pulled away and stood up, "Oh... *ahem*, thought I saw a glimpse of the Leviathan in the trees. Looks like it's just a bird though, we're good."

He offered her his hand and helped her up, "Come on, let's get our supplies and refill the water so we can get going."

Moana nodded, picked up her water canvas, and headed to the pond to refill it while he went off in search of food. _Something is different,_ she thought to herself and she glanced over her shoulder towards the big, hulking man and wondered if he felt something different too.

They hadn't been back out to sea for too long when the weather started to get really bad: dark clouds formed, lightening began to strike, and rain came pouring down. Moana held onto the sheet as tightly as she could and kept glancing back at Maui who seemed completely undisturbed by the raging waters.

"Maui!" She yelled as loud as she could, "How are we going to find Manu'maniti in this?!"

He smirked and pointed ahead. She followed where he pointed and her heart dropped into her stomach in fear; ahead of them was a massive, swirling maelstrom.

"That's how!" He yelled back, "That's the entrance to the land of the damned!"

"WHAT?!"

"To get there, we have to get pulled in!" He walked past her, found a rope, and tied it to the mast. Once he was done, he grabbed her and pulled her over, "Hang on to the mast!"

She did as she was told and he got to work wrapping the rope around her waist.

"This will help you stay with the boat!" He told her as loud as he could, "Whatever you do, do not let go! If you let go before we reach the eye of the maelstrom then you'll be lost at sea!"

"The ocean would never let me drown!"

"There are things worse than drowning!"

Not knowing what to make of that statement, she gulped, "Okay... What about you?!"

"Don't worry about me!" He winked as he ran to his hook, put it in the compartment under her feet, then went back to the aft and grabbed the rope controlling the sail, "I can handle a little rain! Now muscle up, buttercup!"

She rolled her eyes and gripped the mast as tightly as she could, the rope around her waist barely letting her breath. Her eyes widened with terror as they got closer and closer to the swirling vortex until they were right on the edge of it.

"Here we go!" Maui crowed, "CHEEEHOOOOOOOOO!"

Moana squeezed her eyes shut and screamed at the top of her lungs as they started their terrifying descent into the abyss. Down, down, down and around they went for who knew how long, she didn't dare open her eyes to find out. The only thing keeping her from being completely swallowed by fear was hearing Maui's voice behind her, crowing as they went. Suddenly she felt Maui's enormous body right on top of hers and she turned her head to see him holding onto the mast with her.

"HANG ON!" He yelled directly in her ear and she went back to concentrating on the mast.

Suddenly it felt as though something was pulling on the both of them to get away from the boat. Her hand slipped and was yanked away but Maui grabbed it and put it back again.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" She shrieked.

"KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED!" He yelled desperately, "IT'S THE GUARDIANS OF THE GATEWAY! THEY'RE TRYING TO SEPARATE US! DON'T LOOK, JUST KEEP HOLDING ON TO THE MAST! WE'RE ALMOST THROUGH!"

Moana squeezed the mast so hard she felt as though her muscles would give out at any moment. The unseen force surrounding them pulled every way imaginable, even her hair to which she cried out in pain. Then almost as fast as it hard started, it was over again.

Maui gingerly opened his eyes and looked around them; the air was so thick he could feel it closing in. A dark green hue made the whole land feel foreboding, and massive trees and vines hung overhead preventing any light from shining down. He shivered, _I definitely don't want to be here long..._ He directed his attention to Moana who was still clutching the mast so hard, she looked like a giant white knuckle. Leaning down, he grabbed the blade on her leg and cut away the rope tying her there and gently took her arms, "Moana? ... We're here, it's over. You can open your eyes now."

It took a moment for him to loosen her grip and bring her hands down to her sides; she was shaking so bad he thought she might faint. He watched her slowly open her eyes and take a quick look before she quickly turned and clutched onto him, her momentum making him go "OOF!"

She sobbed as she held him tightly; she had never felt anything so terrifying in her life, not even Lalotai had scared her this bad. She couldn't breathe.

"Shhh, shhhh, it's okay," Maui soothed as he ran his hand down her hair, "It's okay, you're alright..."

A terrible screech sounded above them and they both ducked as a skeleton in the shape of a giant bird flew over their heads and out of sight. Once it was gone, he looked back at Moana and took her face in his hands, "We stay together and nothing will happen to us, I promise."

She took a deep breath and willed her heart to return to a normal beat again, nodding in reply. She looked up to see him smiling down at her and his hands dropped from her face to her hands as he pulled her to the aft with him to steer the boat to the shore. Once they landed, he grabbed his hook (which he was relieved to find was still in the compartment where he had stowed it), and jumped out into the muddy ground which came up to almost his ankles.

"Ugh," he twisted his face in disgust, "Great."

Moana wasn't thrilled about the idea of walking through sludge either but just as she was starting to brace herself, Maui stopped her.

"No, no. Hang on."

She watched him drape his hook around his neck, which instantly turned into some sort of necklace with a little white fish hook pendant that he could conveniently hide underneath the string of giant teeth he always wore. Once he felt it was secure, he held out his arms to her, "Come on, this stuff is pretty sticky so I don't think you should walk through it."

"I don't mind getting dirty," she finally spoke (and he sighed in relief knowing the guardians didn't take her voice).

"That's not what I meant," he chuckled and reached over, looping his arm behind her knees which made her fall into his arms. Instinctively, she wrapped her hands around his neck and felt his other hand wrap around her torso, then he turned and started walking deeper into the eerie, thick jungle.

Authors Notes: Yup, it's starting to happen ;) the tension and the crazy adventure part! Please review, I'd like to know what you think of the direction this is going! :D thanks!


	7. The Damned and the Saved

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

"Ruatapu! That's the last of the food on the island!"

The frightened villagers huddled together as they watched the Fefe Tele throw every single one of their crops into a giant pile which sat in front of them.

"Excellent!" The terrifying, scarred, beast of a man cackled, "Now I've heard tales that the people of Kahoka are excellent entertainers..."

The people sat silent, fearfully looking up at him.

"Well, let's see some entertainment!" He grabbed a whip that hung on the arms of one of his nearby thugs and snapped it at the feet of Tui and Sina who stood at the front of the group, trying to shield the others. He pointed at Sina, "You! Round up all of the dancing girls and the cooks, I want some of the best roasted pork ready for tonights festivities. And you, I want you..."

As he pointed at Tui, his eyes squinted as if he was trying to bring an old memory into clear vision. Tui remained silent and unnerved, refusing to let his cover be blown.

The tyrant shook himself out of his trance and went back to his train of thought, "You and some of the others start chopping down trees! I want nice, dry wood for our bonfire tonight!"

Everyone was afraid to move until he cracked the whip at their feet again, then everyone ran in different directions with some members of the Fefe Tele on their trail, making sure they did as they were told. Ruatapu watched Tui as he left, a thought nagging him that something about him was important. He stowed it away for the moment and decided to focus on the present luxuries at hand.

Moana was so tired, she thought she could fall asleep in Maui's arms as he continued to trudge through the never ending mist and swamps. She had no idea how long he'd been walking; time was just a blur down there, and there was no way to tell what time of the day it was. All she knew was that they were going on five weeks since she'd left Kahoka when they entered Manu'maniti and they were running out of time. She looked up at Maui (who kept concentrating on where he was going) and sighed, "How long have we been here?"

"Three days, give or take a few hours."

"Three days?" she wailed, "How hard could it possibly be to find the Leviathan and the souls of the damned down here?"

Maui stopped walking and smiled at her, "Princess, you're absolutely right."

Before she could ask him to explain, he took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could all around them. Instantly, the fog and the mud cleared away to reveal solid ground completely covered with tribal markings Moana had never seen before. He set her down and put her hand on his arm, signalling to her to stay close, and began to chant as he did an ancient war dance:

 _Ou te valaau atu ia te outou_

 _Ou samania e_

 _faaali mai oe lava ia_

 _Ou te poloai atu ia te outou!_

Suddenly they were surrounded by skeletons: standing skeletons with the features of their former lives covering them like thin sheets. Moana clutched onto Maui's arm, completely terrified, and then she looked up to see the most horrifying creature she'd ever seen in her life and she could only guess who it was: The Leviathan. He had a body and arms like that of a sea iguana, pinchers like a crab for hands, eight tentacles like a squid for legs, and the face of a slug with razor sharp teeth and glowing orange eyes. Moana shook from fear of the monstrous creature and Maui pushed her to get behind him.

" _Who dares to summon me?!"_ a brittle but mournful voice seemed to fill the air.

Maui smirked and shouted back, "I do! I am Maui, Shapeshifter! Demigod of the wind and sea! Hero to all!"

The Leviathan turned his head down and looked directly at Maui and Moana, " _How dare you come into my realm with a human! I shall consume her soul!"_

A tentacle whipped out of nowhere but Maui was ready for it, he grabbed Moana and leapt into the air with her and quickly grabbed the fishhook pendant around his neck. Once it was away from his head, it shifted back into the giant hook and he brought it down swiftly, severing the rogue tentacle. The Leviathan shrieked in pain and Moana had to cover her ears, but she didn't fail to notice that the horrendous creature curiously shrunk in size after its tentacle was lost and the severed tentacle glowed a strange blue colour before it suddenly just vanished.

"Anyone touches her in _any_ way and I'll go for your head!" Maui boomed, his threat even making Moana shake. But the creature knew he would live up to his threat and backed away while the rest of the spirits stood still.

" _Very well, what is it that you want, Demigod?"_

"I have come to challenge you, Taito, ancient demon of Manu'maniti, for the right to command the spirits that dwell here!"

" _You're not dead, you have no right to challenge me for my rule!"_ The Leviathan shrilled at him, " _You're not even a real God!"_

"I don't have to be," Maui smirked, "I am a Demigod, and you're not even a real demon! You're just an ancient, bitter spirit who can't move on to the next life! And with no real authority to maintain control of these spirits, I have all the right I need!"

Moana watched fearfully as the monster dwelled on Maui's challenge, obviously roused by his words, when Maui added, "Plus, if I lose, then you'll have the spirit of a Demigod under your rule and no one will dare to challenge you again!"

That caught the Leviathans attention instantly and the air filled with a booming "heh, heh, heh, heh"... Moana felt a chill go up her spine as the monster laughed.

" _Very well, Shapeshifter, I shall meet your challenge come twelve hours time. Spend it wisely!"_

The spirits began to disappear one by one and then finally the Leviathan followed until it was only Maui and Moana left alone. The air was still clear since the Demigod had blown all of the fog away, then a cozy hut appeared only a few yards away. Maui started to walk towards it but Moana pulled on his arm, "Shouldn't we avoid that? It could be a trap so he doesn't have to fight you at all!"

"Nah, don't worry. Taito is not the type to chicken out on a fight, especially when his authority to command has been challenged. He basically does something like this as a 'enjoy your last meal' gesture," he smiled as he pulled back the drape for Moana to enter. Inside there was a fire surrounded with tantalizing meats of all varieties as well as fruit that was so bright in color it could light up the whole swamps of Manu'maniti. Her stomach grumbled as the smells of the feast came to her nostrils, but she was still wary.

"It's okay," Maui nudged her gently and the drape closed behind them; he went and sat down by the fire where the food was, "He knows if he does anything to harm you then I'll chop off his head. And if he does anything to harm _me_ before the challenge has started then the Gods will personally rip him limb from limb."

"You know that for a fact?" she asked as she sat opposite him and gingerly picked up a piece of mango.

"I do. The Gods may not be overly fond of me, but they would avenge me if there was any foul play," he spoke in between bites of a bowl of chicken he found that he dug into greedily. He noticed she still hadn't even taken a bite of the mango she held but rather she sat and looked at it, still debating on actually eating it. He wiped his mouth on his arm and looked at her seriously, "Moana, I _promise_ that it's safe. And you need to eat something to keep your strength up, especially in this place."

She took a deep breath and decided he was probably right. Then, closing her eyes and preparing for the worst, she took a little nibble... and it tasted fine. It wasn't overly enhanced or otherwise different, it was just a regular mango. Her stomach growled even louder in response to the promise of sustenance and she couldn't help herself. She snatched the bowl of chicken away from him and started eating with gusto. Maui laughed and picked up the bowl of pork and began eating again. Neither of them spoke as they enjoyed the meal, both were too hungry to talk. But once they had their fill, and the reality of the situation set in, it somehow got even quieter. Moana felt complete and utter dread at what Maui would have to face in the morning and he could feel it. But then an idea came to his head and he smirked. He touched his hook and suddenly the room flashed a bright blue. Moana looked up to see Maui grinning at her with a, "Hey, Shark-head!"

She couldn't help herself; she busted up laughing so hard she couldn't even breathe. Maui laughed along with her for a solid ten minutes until tears were streaming from her eyes, then he allowed himself to change back. She kept giggling as she wiped the happy tears from her eyes and he rolled out a nearby mat.

"Alright," he snickered, "You need to get some sleep or you'll be falling over tomorrow."

She noticed the second mat unrolled, "What about you? Don't you need to sleep, too?"

"I'm okay, I was refreshed that night on the island," he winked at her and she blushed, unable to tell if he was joking or not, "Besides, I'm gonna stay up and keep an eye out just in case I was wrong about his sense of honor."

Moana stared at the mat but didn't move, "... I don't want to sleep down here... I'm too afraid to close my eyes..."

Maui looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant when it dawned on him, "Don't worry, you're safe with me. Not even the guardians can get to you here since we've made it through the gateway."

She shuddered at the memory and the dread she felt only diminished a little, but it wasn't completely gone. Still, she knew he was right and she crawled over to the mat and lay on her side. She smiled as she watched him grab a blanket and pull it over her, trying to make her as comfortable as he could under the circumstances. The fact that she hadn't stopped shaking still concerned him, so he laid himself down on his side behind her. He carefully pulled his arm up to wrap around her waist again but he watched her face first, looking for any sign that she didn't want him there. He smiled when she naturally snuggled up to his chest and he brought his arm down and around her.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep," he whispered in her ear; his lips were so close they practically kissed her temple.

Heat rose through Moana's neck and face at the gesture, and a sensation she had never experienced before filled her. Shaking, she brought her hand down to his and laced her fingers with his. When he squeezed her hand in return, the feeling only intensified; she unknowingly squirmed, ever so softly, in his arms.

Maui had only intended to soothe her when he whispered, but the smell of her hair intoxicated him and he didn't notice how his lips were touching her face. But then when she laced her fingers with his, he felt even more riled than he had the last couple of times they were this close. Now she was writhing in his arms and there was only an ounce of control left in him because he experienced another very human emotion at that moment: fear. He wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt in places he didn't even know he could hurt, but the thought of what that might do to their friendship that he cherished so much scared him more than he thought possible. His body held stiff.

She sensed how tense he had become and curiosity overtook her actions; she twisted her body to look at him, caught his gaze, and gasped. She saw something that oddly mirrored her own emotions: want. _...He wants me,_ she thought to herself. She was certain of it, she could see it in his eyes. He was breathing as though he had just fought a giant monster, and though his hand had never left her side, she could feel it shake. Moana gulped as she realized how much she wanted him in return, and she bravely leaned up and kissed him tenderly.

Her eyes closed when their lips met, but his were still open as he watched her. She had proved that she thought of him the same way he thought of her, yet he was still afraid to lose control and wreck the perfect, wonderful thing between the two of them. His body ached for her, and when she barely pulled away from him, brought her hand to the side of his face, and whispered his name, all restraint ceased to exist. He crashed his lips down onto hers and pulled her body to him, desperate to feel her completely. His other hand went to her back and up into her hair, holding her face to his.

Moana opened her mouth to him as he explored hers, her own hands wrapped around his neck and fisted in his hair, pulling him down to her. She didn't know what they were doing, she only knew that it made her feel... alive, and she didn't want to stop yet. He groaned into their kiss when her leg shifted and rubbed up against a part of him that made her eyes open wide with nervousness. He noticed it and immediately pulled back, panting above her. She was panting in return and brought her hands to his face, gently caressing the sides as she looked into his eyes. They had no idea what to say to each other, this was completely new territory for the both of them and they were lost.

Maui took a deep breath and smiled at her gently before he leaned up and kissed her forehead, "It's okay."

She took a deep breath and sighed, relieved that he didn't hate her or that she was wrong in how he felt about her. The only thing she could do was smile timidly and nod at him. She watched as he took the initiative and laid on his side again, encouraging her to do the same. She did and relief washed over her as he snuggled to her closely and wrapped his arm around her again. And though a part of him was still extremely uncomfortable, he ignored it and focused on her as they lay there together.

"Goodnight, Moana," he whispered tenderly.

"Goodnight, Maui," she replied just as softly. She smiled as her body relaxed enough to allow her to rest with his arms around her. If they had to be lost, at least they were lost together.

The next morning, or at least after a decent amount of sleep, Moana woke and smiled to feel Maui's arms still around her and holding her tightly against his chest.

"Morning," she heard his voice say breathlessly.

"Morning," she smiled and turned to face him, "Were you up all night?"

"I told you," he smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her, "I got plenty of rest a few days ago."

She giggled and wrapped her arm around his torso, barely reaching his back. She lazily drew circles on his skin with her fingers as he watched her when he shivered.

"That tickles."

"Oh, sorry," she chuckled and pulled her hand away when he grabbed it with his own and stopped her.

"I didn't say you had to stop, though," he replied and slowly leaned down to her lips. He kissed her softly and smiled inwardly as she began to kiss him back. Just as he brought his hand up to her face they both heard a loud, brittle voice screeching.

" _The time has come, Demigod! Come out and face your doom."_

Maui rolled his eyes and sighed, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Perfect timing."

"No kidding," Moana nodded. For the moment she had completely forgotten that they were in Manu'maniti, but the interruption thrust her back into reality. He offered his hand and helped her up, then the two of them walked out of the little 'guest hut' and onto the battlefield.

Authors Notes: Yup, it happened ;) I was squealing like a fangirl inwardly when I wrote that scene because, like you, I couldn't wait for it to happen. And don't worry, that's definitely not the end of their romantic encounters! However, this is rated T so you can expect the story to still be pretty chaste lol. I'm going out of town for a couple of days guys so I hope this chapter/moment will make up for not being able to publish anymore until I get back. Please please please review, I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this new development in their relationship!


	8. The Battle

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

Moana trembled with fear as she looked over to Maui who stood with his fishhook in his hand and ready to begin. The Leviathan stood across from him on the other side of the Tribal Marked ground, his claws outward as he poised himself for battle.

"... I think now would be a good time to use those sea monster forms you've been working on," she gulped.

"No, not now. Those take up a lot of energy to do and I need to be swift and agile for this guy, I'm gonna stick to my go to's. Don't worry about me, it'll be fun!" He winked.

She opened her mouth to argue when the Leviathan spoke.

" _Here's how this works, Demigod,"_ his mournful, brittle voice sneered, " _When the skeleton Ibis shrieks, we begin. It is a battle to the death, and should you win, you have command of the souls here."_

Maui smirked.

" _But should I win, you're another soul under my power. Are we agreed?"_

Moana held her breath, hoping Maui had a lot of practice fighting in five years.

"Deal," the Demigod said confidently.

 _"_ _Very well, let us begin!"_ the Leviathan boomed.

The crowd watched as the giant bird landed nearby, and Moana's nerves were on edge as they waited. The whole arena was dead silent as the awaited cry didn't come. Then suddenly, the skeleton turned its head and let out an ear piercing shriek.

"CHEEEEHOOOOOOO!" Maui crowed as he jumped into the air with his hook and turned into his first creature of choice: the giant hawk.

The Leviathan bellowed as he swung at Maui with his long tentacles, but Maui shifted back and chopped one off. Moana whooped and hollered at the small victory, but she knew it was far from over. The monster howled in pain and shrank in size; Maui changed back into the hawk and swirled around him, getting the Leviathan to snap with one of the pinchers. Another swish of the hook and that was dismembered as well, and the beast grew smaller still. The battle continued on and on and Moana began to believe they really could win as her cries of joy grew louder and louder and the Leviathan began to lose his monstrous height and form and started resembling a very large, deformed man, Taito, more and more. Victory was near; Maui brought his fishhook down for one more blow to Taito's head, but the demon was ready for it.

He ducked out of the way and Maui's hook hit the ground. He was punched to the side with the only monstrous limb left, a pincher, and his hook was out of reach. Taito didn't waste a moment to jump on Maui and clamp the claw on the Demigods throat. No matter how much Maui struggled, he couldn't break free.

"And now," Taito bellowed with a much less disturbing voice, "You die!"

He raised his other enormous hand to the sky, forming a fist, and began to bring it down.

"WAIT!"

A fist hit the ground right next to Maui's head, and the two competitors looked behind them to the young human the Demigod had brought with him.

Moana dropped to her knees in her most respectful bow, and humbly spoke, "Taito, I wish to make an exchange."

Maui couldn't speak as his throat was still clamped on, but Taito seemed interested.

"Allow Maui the right to command the souls under you, and allow him to live."

"In exchange for what?!" the deformed man shrieked at her.

She swallowed hard, "... In exchange for my soul."

Maui tried desperately to get free and stop her, but the claw held him like a vice grip and there was no way to wriggle out of it.

"Allow us to go and save my island, and I give you my word that I will return to you... and you can consume my soul in recompense for the limbs you have lost during the battle."

"Why wouldn't I just kill you now, mortal?" Taito sneered at her.

Moana raised her eyes and looked directly into his burning orange ones, "Because I will fight to the death, and then having my soul wouldn't be nearly as sweet as me offering it to you freely to consume."

The demon mulled over her proposition, the thought of consuming an innocent, which translated to powerful, soul sounded more and more enticing. He ignored how much the Demigod below him struggled to get her attention, begging her to rescind her offer. But Moana paid no attention to Maui.

"Just please, let us borrow your army long enough to save my people, allow Maui to live, and then I will give you my soul freely. I swear on the death of my grandmother Tala, you have my word."

Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited for his answer; she hoped and prayed her innocent soul was enough of a prize for what she was asking: taking all of the souls with her and saving the Demigod that had insulted the Leviathans pride and brought it down to the once frail, human form he was a millennia ago. There was no denying that was a heavy cost.

A smile crossed the deformed Taito's face and he cackled, "It's a deal."

He held out his hand to her and without question, she shook it. A searing pain filled her arm and she screamed out loud, it felt as though her limb was on fire. When the demon finally released her, she looked down to see a skull tattoo on her wrist: the mark of death.

"Now our bargain is a contract," Taito sneered as he released Maui (who sputtered and coughed as he held his abused throat), "When your task is complete, that mark will glow red and I will know it. If you do not return to the entrance of Manu'maniti within ten days after that, then I will come and destroy your entire island as well as consume your soul."

Tears dripped from her eyes, but Moana nodded, "I understand."

"Very well, then for now this is goodbye," he chuckled sinisterly. Before Maui could charge him, he disappeared. Suddenly everything around them began to spin, as if they were being sucked up into a hurricane. Then suddenly they were on the beach of the tiny island in the mortal realm, just outside of the entrance to the Land of the Damned, with their canoe waiting patiently on the beach.

Ignoring his fishhook in the sand, Maui leapt to Moana and grabbed her by the arms, raising her to his eye level, and bellowed at her, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Angered at his outburst, she screamed back at him, "I SAVED YOUR LIFE!"

"And you sacrificed your own to do it! Moana, my soul is not worth what you gave!" tears began to form in his eyes, "NO ONE'S is!"

"What else was I supposed to do, Maui?! Watch you die?! I can't do that!"

"AH!" he howled in frustration, "That's it!"

He turned and threw her deep into the ocean, hoping to knock some sense into her. The ocean brought her right back in response, but then splashed him for the act.

"She sold her soul to the Leviathan!" Maui shrieked at the crescent head, explaining his actions.

The ocean turned to Moana and cocked its head.

"It's true," she nodded.

The crystal clear water made a giant wave and crashed down on top of her.

"I know you're not happy about it!" she screamed at the water before turning her direction back to Maui, "Neither of you are, I get that! But there was no other way! And I will not apologize for saving my people! And the man I love!"

Maui's eyes opened wide at her words. He watched as she turned and ran deep into the forest, leaving him and the ocean stunned. At first they glanced at each other, then the ocean 'shooed' him to go after her. He nodded, picked up his hook, and began to follow, his heart twisting at the thought of losing her. _There's got to be another way... there has to be..._

Moana ran deep into the forest; past the waterfall and pool, a clearing full of tropical flowers, to some tide pools that glowed in the moonlight. Panting and achy from running so hard, she collapsed to her knees in front of one of the smaller pools and dropped her head in defeat. She sat there quietly for what seemed like ages, sobbing at how truly stuck she was.

"That was a very brave thing you did, Moana."

Her eyes shot up and looked around. She knew that voice, but she hadn't heard it in so long, where did it come from? There was no one around her.

"Look down," it said again.

Moana leaned forward over the tide pool and gasped, "Gramma?"

What should have been her reflection was in fact the gentle face of Tala, smiling at her beloved granddaughter, "Hello, Moana."

"Gramma," tears dropped from her face and into the water, "I... I had no choice."

Tala nodded knowingly, "I wish I could tell you there was another way, but there isn't."

"... I didn't just do it for my people."

She waited for her grandmothers face to change to some other expression, but her smile didn't waiver.

"... Shouldn't you be asking me why else I did it?"

"Okay, why else _did_ you do it?" Tala asked matter-of-factly.

Exasperated, Moana rolled her eyes, "Because of Maui! Because the Leviathan would have killed him if I didn't stop him!"

Tala chuckled, "You act as though that's something to be punished for."

Moana closed her eyes and sighed, "I just... I'm so confused."

"Moana, you love him. You said it yourself. What is so confusing about realizing you're in love with someone? Particularly a Demigod," Tala winked at her, "Can't go wrong there!"

Finally a chuckle escaped her granddaughters mouth, and she continued, "There is no way to prove how much someone means to you more than sacrificing your own life for theirs. And I'm certain if you asked him, he would tell you he feels the same way."

Another tear fell from Moana's face, "But... now I'll just lose him again when I go to fulfil my bargain to Taito."

Finally, Tala's expression changed to sadness, "I understand now, and I wish I could help you. All I can say is what I told you long ago: there is nowhere you could go that I won't be with you. Even in Manu'maniti, I will be with you... But for now, do not waste your precious moments with him, my sweet granddaughter. Perhaps a miracle may happen, if you believe it will."

Moana closed her eyes, more wretched tears streaming down her cheeks, until she took a deep breath and opened them again. But when she looked into the tide pool, her wonderful grandmother had vanished again.

"I do, you know."

Moana jumped at the sound of another voice behind her and she looked to see Maui standing only a few feet away. His eyes bore into hers as she stood up and turned around completely to him.

"I do love you, Moana of Motunui," he walked towards her, "Chief of Kahoka, and possessor of my heart."

Her breathing became heavy as he got closer.

"And I can't let you die either," Maui said quietly, his voice beginning to crack from the intense emotion he felt for her, "I promise I will do everything I can... and everything I can't to save you. Because I..."

The blush of embarrassment crossed his cheeks and he looked down, "... I can't go through life without you anymore..."

Moana released the breath she had been holding and ran to him. Dropping his hook, he caught her and attacked her lips with his own as her hands tangled in his hair again. He held her with his arms wrapped around her waist when she wrapped her legs around his. He groaned and broke the kiss to cover her neck with kisses.

Utterly intoxicated, she whispered out a breathy, "...Maui..."

Realizing where they were headed, he pulled back and looked up at her in alarm.

Panic crossed her own face, fearing she had done something wrong when he suddenly stopped to look at her.

"Moana," he gulped, "...I'm afraid."

Relaxed that it wasn't what she thought, she nodded, "Me too...but..."

She couldn't finish as she looked deeper into his eyes; it touched her to see the overwhelming fear and innocence in them, a side she had never seen before. For as long as she'd known him, she'd always associated him with complete strength and confidence. But now he was vulnerable, and her heart ached to make him feel how much she loved and wanted him; she wanted to make up for the millennia of suffering he felt, for all of the things he did for humans for just a taste of what he craved. What he had fought to earn from so many, she would give to him freely.

"...But I want this..." Maui finished, completely breathless.

Moana nodded and kissed him tenderly as he carefully sat down on his knees, holding her tightly...

Authors Notes: I did say I would keep my writing T-rated, however I firmly stand by this happening ;) Thank you all for being so patient as I was out of town, and now I promise I'll be back to writing and posting every day. Don't forget to review!


	9. Enough Time

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

Maui woke up first; he looked down to his side to see Moana curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully. A huge smile crossed his face as memories of the night before washed over him, which in turn evoked something else. A blush spread over his cheeks and he wondered if he could move her without waking her. But as soon as he shifted his arm, she opened her eyes. What she saw first made her giggle, and she turned her head upwards to see him watching her.

"Morning, princess," he winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Are you ever gonna' give that up?"

"Probably not," he chuckled and rolled on top of her, "But you could always try to persuade me..."

Giggling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him. He barely ran his hand along her leg when she suddenly pushed on him in alarm, "Wait!"

He stopped cold, "What? What is it?"

"We've only got two and a half weeks left until the Fefe Tele completely destroy Kahoka!" She said quickly and pushed him off of her, jumped up and grabbed her clothes (ignoring her very sore muscles), and started running back to their canoe, "Come on, we've got to go!"

Even though he knew she was right, the Demigod groaned and rolled onto his back, "Awe..."

"Maui! Come on!"

A playful smile crossed his face, but he reluctantly got up, grabbed his grass skirt and hook, and followed her. He felt a sharp kick at his chest as he chased after her and looked down to see Mini Maui waggling his eyebrows at him.

"Not a word, nosey. Got it?"

The mini depiction stifled a laugh and nodded.

It didn't take them long to get the canoe back out to sea and coax some wind into the sails and before they knew it, they were cruising along the waves headed southeast.

Stiffness attacked her muscles, but Moana ignored it so she could focus on helping Maui wayfind, "How long until we reach Kahoka?"

"No longer than nine days," he answered her seriously as he pulled on the sheet, "We'll be cutting it close. If these guys are as bad as your dad said they are, I highly doubt it'll take them two whole months to finish whatever horrible things they plan to do."

Panic flashed through her face, "Can't we go any faster?"

Maui looked around, grabbed his hook, and jumped off the back of the boat. He swung his hook at the sail and a great big gust of wind blew the boat even faster, knocking Moana off of her feet. He shapeshifted into a shark and glided through the water before quickly jumping back on the boat and shifting back into his human form.

"We keep this rate up and we'll get there in seven days now," he peered at the sky to determine the time, "...maybe eight."

"That's okay," She smiled and jumped up to take over the rudder, "Every little bit helps. Thanks!"

He smiled until his eyes caught the skull tattoo on her wrist. Greif washed over his face as he remembered the bargain she made with the Leviathan, and he turned away from her.

"Hey," she cocked her head, noticing the change in his demeanour, "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.

"Maui?"

He still didn't reply.

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked around her, trying to figure out what he looked at to make him upset, when she saw her wrist. The harsh reality of her future came back and she sighed, "There's nothing I can do about this now."

"Yes there is."

She looked up to see him finally turn around.

"Taito agreed to let us use his army to save Kahoka and your people."

"... Yeah?"

"Well, the way it works is when we get there I will summon the army like I summoned them in Manu'maniti... what if I don't?"

She cocked an eyebrow, "I thought you said you couldn't fight a whole army alone."

"That's not what I mean," he said, shaking his head and walking back towards her, "I mean... we don't go back."

Moana straightened herself, "Maui-"

"We could go anywhere else. We'll find another island to call ours and I'll never leave you again, I promise!"

"I won't condemn my people, my _parents_ , to death," She answered him, shaking her head.

"Moana," he stood over her, seething, "You'll spend eternity completely lost! Your soul will just be another limb on that monsters body!"

"And my people will be safe!" She argued back, "I won't abandon them, Maui!"

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "I'm not calling the army! I can't let you do this!"

She stood up against him, "Then what? You gonna' shapeshift and fly off like last time?! Go ahead! I'm still going back and even if I can't save my people, at least I'll be with them!"

"MOANA!" He yelled in her face, causing her to flinch. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, "... Even without my hook, I'm still Maui. You taught me that. But without you... I truly am nothing..."

He turned away to go sit in front of the mast, burying his face in his hands.

She took only a moment before tying off the sheet and walking around to stand before him. She nearly fell backwards as he wrapped his arms around her legs and pulled her to him, laying his head on her stomach. She smiled sweetly and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I don't regret doing it, you know," she said softly.

He looked up at her.

"I don't," she continued, "You've done everything for mortals, you've saved me countless times... now I was able to save you."

Maui stood and cupped her cheek in his palm; she placed her hand over his and leaned up to kiss him softly.

"Five years..." he whispered sadly, resting his forehead against hers, "I had five years to be with you, and I blew it. Now there's no time at all."

"That's not true," she replied, placing her hands on his chest, "You have eight days to be with me... And I don't want to waste that."

Looking deep into Maui's eyes, Moana saw a fiery hunger rise up and she opened herself to him as he attacked her body with his lips...

 ***PAGE BREAK***

Much later that night, she watched him sleep on the deck. She chuckled as he snored, and she couldn't help but blush to think of why he needed a lot of sleep lately. When he rolled onto his side, facing away from her, she noticed the hook and an idea came to her mind. As silently as possible, she tied off the sheet and faced the water.

"Ocean?" she whispered, careful to not wake him.

The crescent head popped up quietly next to her and cocked its head, wondering what she wanted.

Smiling gently, she leaned forward and whispered even quieter, "I need your help..."

Authors Notes: Sorry it's so short, but I thought I would let this chapter speak for itself here :) I don't think Moana and Maui should do the whole dance around each other thing regarding how they feel about one another, but I don't want to make it too sappy either. I tried to stay true to their characters even with this new development in their relationship. Also, every time I put up some sort of page break it never transfers over into this text so hence the *PAGE BREAK* thing :P Please review, I want to know what you think!


	10. Ruatapu's Revenge

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

Tui was dragged to the front of the frightened crowd and thrown down before Ruatapu's feet; Sina scratched and clawed to get to him but was held back by a few of the evil tyrant's minions.

"I remember you," Ruatapu sneered, "You're the reason I lost my eye."

Tui glared up at him defiantly, unafraid of what fate awaited him.

"Of course you were much younger then, and on a completely different island," the older deformed man said casually before he reached down and grabbed Tui by the hair, yanking him to his eye level, "So allow me to return the favour..."

"NO!" Sina screamed.

"Sina, no!" Tui halted her before she could do something foolish, gritting his teeth from the pain.

Ruatapu threw him to his thugs who held him down against a tree. As hard as he could, Tui nearly broke free of their grasp when one of them punched him full in the gut, causing him to bend over in pain. They grabbed him by the hair again, holding his head up as their leader came forward with a machete in his hand.

"Now, just a little off the top," he chuckled and pulled his arm back.

Tui closed his eyes, accepting his fate, when the whole village heard the sound of a horn blowing.

"RUATAPU!" a scout yelled as he ran to them, "We have incoming!"

"How many?!"

"One, sir! It's the Demigod Maui!"

Tui opened his eyes and looked at Sina who whispered happily, "Moana..."

Ruatapu didn't hear her but instead turned his gaze to the lagoon where a single canoe came rolling in, "The shapeshifter... Lock up the prisoners! And throw this one in the pit!"

He turned his attention back to Tui and sneered, "We're not through yet, boy."

Sina and the others were herded into the wooden cages they themselves had been forced to build and Tui was thrown into a deep hole they had dug. A few guards were left behind to watch them whist the rest of the murdering troupe ran to the beaches to ambush the intruders. Sina pushed to the front of the cage to stare out into the night, hoping to watch what would happen and see her daughter.

Tui heard most of the guards leave and dropped to his knees in prayer, "Gods, please keep her safe..."

 ***PAGE BREAK***

Maui squinted his eyes as they approached the island, watching the scrambling movements of the Fefe Tele, "Well, they know we're here."

"Can you see any of my people?" Moana asked him, but really just hoping that he saw her parents.

"Yeah, they're in some big cage just past the village and they threw a big guy into a hole... looked kinda like your dad..."

Panic crossed her face, "Is he okay?!"

"I can't tell," he shook his head, "But we'll find out soon enough, they're preparing to ambush us..."

She waited for him to continue but he paused, "... Maui, you have to summon the army..."

He closed his eyes and sighed, "... I know..."

She watched as he suddenly he grabbed his giant hook, jumped nearly 100 feet into the air, and began to chant:

 _Ou te valaau atu ia te outou_

 _Ou samania e_

 _faaali mai oe lava ia_

 _Ou te poloai atu ia te outou!_

Moana shrieked; suddenly they were surrounded by the skeletal souls from Manu'maniti. All of them ran on the waters surface to the beach, bellowing as they went. Her amazement was interrupted by a loud "CHEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOO!" coming from above and she looked up to see Maui twist his hook and then a blinding flash of purple filled the sky, forcing her to cover her eyes. When she looked again, her eyes widened in fear to see a giant sea monster before her: At least 150 feet tall, arms and torso of a man, webbed hands, and the head of a fish with a long dorsal fin running down the back. The only clue that it was in fact Maui was the tattoo of a fishhook along his side, and he turned to look down at the little canoe.

"Stay safe," the low, guttural voice that only sounded a hint like Maui came from the creatures lips. She swallowed and nodded, her eyes still wide in shock, and he charged towards the boats on the shore, thrashing his arms and destroying them one by one. She quickly adjusted her sail and cruised to the shore, anxious to get to her people and make them safe again.

Ruatapu watched the scene before him and for once in his life, he was genuinely afraid. A ghost army and a giant sea monster? It was his nightmares come to life.

"SIR!" One of his generals shouted at him, shaking him out of his trance, "The sea monster is attacking our ships! We won't be able to leave!"

"The villagers boats are on the other side of the island, you fool!" He spat at him, "We'll escape on those! Everyone to the ships!"

"RETREAT!"

The Fefe Tele ran away in panic as the ghosts of Manu'maniti began to chase them, picking off the stragglers one by one.

The villagers watched the scene in horror behind their bars and all of them dropped to their knees, praying to the Gods to spare their lives. Sina looked up and gasped as the Fefe Tele ran past them and were chased by a demon army of sorts. Most of them chased after their captors, but a few stayed behind and looked at the prisons curiously. She began to scream as she watched them advance towards them with, she could only assume, the intent to kill them.

"NO!"

The skeletons stopped and looked to their right to see the mortal woman who accompanied the Demigod running towards them.

"Not them, they're not Fefe Tele! They're not a threat!" Moana panted, quickly standing in front of the cages.

The skeletons nodded and joined the rest of their brethren in chasing after the running mortals, their targets made clear.

Moana sighed in relief and turned around to open the cage doors. As soon as she did, her people busted out of the cage and rushed her: hugging, cheering, congratulating, thanking her, even kissing her hands as they caught them. It overwhelmed her and she began to panic when she couldn't see her parents when someone from behind her grabbed her and spun her around into a tight hug.

"Mom!" she cried happily when Sina's arms went around her, but it only lasted a moment, "Where's dad?!"

"Over here!" Sina pulled her over to the deep pit where Moana sighed in relief to see Tui at the bottom, alive and unharmed.

"Dad!" she cried, "Hang on!"

She looked around and found a long rope and tossed it down to him. She and Sina and many of the other villagers held onto it as the Chief of Motunui climbed out and quickly wrapped the two women in his life into the warmest embrace ever in their lives.

"You're alive!" Tui cried as he kissed his daughters cheek, "And you found Maui!"

"Yeah," she chuckled, a tear rolling down her cheek, "And apparently we got here just in time."

Everyone around her chuckled when they heard someone towards the back shouting.

"Chief! They're taking our boats!"

Moana ran over to the ledge where the messenger was and looked out to see all of their canoes getting further and further out to sea, and the skeletons were nowhere. She looked all around until she finally saw the souls of the damned walking back towards her. While her people backed away in fear, she ran towards them.

"They're getting away!" She shouted.

The skeletons didn't move.

"You can run on water! Can't you go after them?!"

They remained silent.

She pushed her hair back in frustration when she saw the skull tattoo on her wrist, and it began to turn red. Suddenly she understood.

"... The deal was you were to save my people and my island... and now that the Fefe Tele have been chased away, the terms have been met... is that it?"

The 'leader' she spoke to nodded its skeletal head before it vanished in front of her with a green wisp of smoke. One by one, the skeletons began to disappear until the only inhabitants left on Kahoka were the freed mortals that dwelled there.

Moana looked back out to the canoes, "This isn't over, they can still come back!"

Tui walked over to his daughter and placed his hand on her shoulder, "We have no boats, Moana. We cannot go after them."

She smiled devilishly and turned to the lagoon, "MAUI!"

The people gasped with fear as the giant sea monsters head poked out from the lagoon and stared at their chief. She pointed to the sea and screamed, "They're getting away!"

Maui turned his head and saw the six or seven canoes that had belonged to the people of Kahoka being stolen and quickly transformed into a giant hawk to catch up to them. Moana watched as he got close then suddenly shifted into a shark and dove into the water a fair distance behind them.

Maui glided through the water and under the boats as fast as he could, determined to get in front of them for a big surprise. He chuckled to himself as he cleared the last boat, turned himself around, and blinked.

Ruatapu screamed in terror as the giant sea monster with the torso of a man and head of a fish rose from the water directly in front of him. Even though he knew who the deity was, the alien voice shook him to his core as it roared at him, "Ruatapu, I sentence you to death for your crimes! You will never terrorize my island, my people, nor anyone else ever again!"

The last thing he ever saw was the giant webbed hand as it came crashing down on top of him, sending him to his death and completely destroying the canoe.

The people of Kahoka cheered as the Demigod dispatched the remaining Fefe Tele. They had lost their boats, but they all knew how to make new ones in no time. Their homes were destroyed, but together they would build an even greater village. Their crops were almost completely gone, but they would start over. Moana looked around and smiled, finally feeling like a real leader as she watched her people rejoice, knowing that she had in fact protected them. It was when her wrist began to singe in a mild burning pain that she was reminded that being a Chief wasn't in her future at all.

Her parents grabbed her for another hug, breaking her out of her concentration. She held them tighter than she ever had before, refusing to let the tears in her eyes fall. When they pulled back, there was no hiding the sullen look on her face and they immediately took notice of it.

"What is it?" Tui asked her gently.

"Mom, dad..." she took a deep breath, "I learned something while I was gone, and that is that I love Maui. And I want to be with him."

Her parents opened their eyes wide at her statement, but she continued, "But he could never be tied down to one island... I wish to go with him, and give up my role as Chief to someone who will be much better at it than me."

Tui and Sina looked at each other in shock, not sure of what they could even say: it was their daughters rite as the Chief to pass her role on to another when she chose to, though traditionally that was to another heir. They gaped as she walked between them and called above the crowd, "Ariitea!"

She smiled in delight as she watched her old friend come running out of the crowd and holding his lovely fiancé Leikea's hand, dragging her with him. He only let go to hug Moana, who then hugged Leikea after. When he noticed how determined she looked, Ariitea furrowed his eyebrows, "What is it?"

Moana smiled and turned back to the crowd, "People of Kahoka, all of you have my blessing as you look to your new Chief."

Everyone looked around at each other, completely puzzled.

"Chief Ariitea!"

His eyes opened in shock, "What?! No! I'm not able to be the Chief!"

"Ari," she smiled at him, rubbing his arm, "You've held this place together for five years, taking on so many of the things I had a hard time doing with ease. You'll be a much better Chief than I ever will be. I am giving this honour to you because I know you'll do wondrous things with it, and because you deserve it."

He was speechless.

"And Leikea," she turned to his beautiful fiancé, "You will no doubt help him in any way that you can, and I wish you both all of the happiness in the world."

The shy, slender woman smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Moana."

Moana bowed in turn and turned back to Ariitea, "If it weren't for the Fefe Tele, you would have given her father the rest of those pigs you promised and have been married by now. I wonder if he'll make an exception and allow you to marry her anyways as the new Chief?"

The crowd chuckled and a stocky man came forth, obviously Leikea's father, "I will allow that. After all, who better to marry my daughter than a Chieftain?"

More laughter erupted and Moana addressed the crowd again, "Then everyone, I give you Chief Ariitea! Let us prepare a wedding celebration for him as best as we can! LAKOHI!"

"LAKOHI!" the crowd bellowed back, and despite all of the destruction around them, they began to celebrate.

 ***PAGE BREAK***

Maui made it back to shore, completely exhausted from the form he had taken on and the battle he had fought. As soon as he was clear of the water, he dropped his hook and sank to his knees when he looked up to see a wonderfully familiar face running towards him.

"Maui!" Moana cried as she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him everywhere.

He chuckled as she did, "Whoa, easy now, princess! I just fought a big armada; I need a little time to rest before I do any other activities."

"Oh, shut up," she rolled her eyes and kissed his lips, "I'm so happy you're safe... you did it."

He beamed up at her, " _We_ did it, Moana."

She smiled and helped him to his feet, "Everyone's fine, including my parents. There's a lot of damage, but in no time at all it'll be as good as new."

"Well, the good news is the Fefe Tele are no more, so they'll never have to about those pirates again," Maui nodded as they walked back to the village, "I wonder where _that_ tattoo will appear."

She chuckled, "Come on, everyone is putting together a feast with what we have to celebrate the victory, and they're dying to fawn over and say 'Thank You' to their favourite Demigod."

"Oh, well I could use a little mortal adoration," Maui smirked, not noticing that Mini Maui was leading a chorus of tattoo people in chanting his name over and over.

"I'm sure you could," Moana giggled and carefully looked back over his shoulder to watch the ocean sneak up onto the shore and pull his hook into the water like she had asked it to. Determined to keep his focus on the people, she pulled him a little faster, "Come on, we're even trying to pull together a quick wedding and that means coconut soaked cake."

"Ooooh," he felt his stomach grumble, the promise of food becoming more and more enticing by the second, "I definitely can't say no to that! ...But what about Taito?"

A chill ran up her spine at his question, knowing full well he would still fight the inevitable. She cleared her throat and replied, "Let's not worry about that tonight. For now, let's just enjoy our victory and our people. Okay?"

He looked at her a little funny and she swallowed, hoping he wouldn't push the matter. Finally he nodded, "Okay."

Together, they walked up to the fresh fires as the sun finished setting behind them.

Authors Notes: I know what y'all are thinking, and I promise everything will be alright ;) you'll just have to keep reading to find out how they get out of this mess. Don't forget to review!


	11. The Reckoning

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

By the time the stars had appeared, the island was filled with the delicious aromas of roasted meats and soaked cakes. Everyone came up to Maui and Moana to thank them for saving them and Moana couldn't help but smile as she watched Maui soak it in, though she was glad that most of the attention was on the happy couple for the ceremony and the celebration. When Maui was asked to come forth and bless their marriage, she quickly slipped away to the beach where the canoe was waiting. Not wasting a moment, she pushed her boat out into the water and jumped in, catching a breeze which quickly put her beyond the reef.

Certain that she was far enough away so no one could catch her, she reached into the compartment where a loose piece of wood was sitting, grabbed her little knife, and began carving. When finished, she turned to the water.

"Ocean?"

The faithful crescent head appeared.

"When he comes to the shore... would you please give him this?"

She placed the wooden slate onto the water below the crescent shape and it began to push it back to the island. Moana watched her message float away back to Kahoka and then raised her eyes to look at the bonfires and the people dancing around them, certain she could see her parents shapes as they appeared to be talking to Maui (whose hulking shape was unmistakable). A tear dropped from her eye as she whispered painfully, "...Goodbye."

Sniffling, she straightened herself, turned back to the open sea, and pulled on the sheet. Catching a gust of wind, she sped off to her final destination: Manu'maniti.

 ***PAGE BREAK***

"Lua o mai faatasi ma avea ma se tasi, e mafai ona faamanuiaina ai le Atua oulua faatasiga," Maui said happily over the hands of the newlywed couple. The crowd erupted in cheers as he finished and out of the corner of his eyes he saw two people he recognized as Moana's parents. As soon as he got through the crowd, he walked over to them.

Tui and Sina bowed as the Demigod approached them.

"No, no, please," Maui smiled and bowed to them, "I should be the one bowing to you… I actually would like to ask you something, Chief Tui."

"Of course," he answered, "What can I do for you?"

"… Well, Chief Tui sir… I would like your permission to court your daughter… and marry her in the future. I promise to take care of her and help her with all of the responsibilities that come with being Chief."

Maui wondered why they looked at him with confusion, _Was there some sort of ceremony I missed on asking permission to marry someone? Do they not think I'm good enough for her?_

He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and continued, "I will do whatever you want me to so that I can prove that I am a worthy suitor-"

"No, no, no," Sina interrupted him, "That's not it. Moana already informed us that she loves you and wants to be with you... but she gave us the impression that you did not want to stay on the island, so she gave up her right as Chief."

Maui's eyes opened wide, "She WHAT?"

Tui nodded, "She gave that right to Ariitea, he's the Chief now."

Maui looked all around for Moana when he spotted a canoe far outside of the lagoon. _Oh no..._ He turned and reached for his hook before he realized he dropped it on the beach. He sprinted back down the island to where he landed and looked all around when the dragging marks in the sand caught his attention, and they lead directly into the ocean.

"Where's my hook?!" He shouted at the water, "What did you do with it?!"

A crescent head appeared carrying something. Maui held out his hand and the water placed the slate of wood into it before disappearing. Noticing the carved marks, he squinted in the dark to read:

 _"_ _Maui- I know what I'm doing. I'm saving everyone that I love. I told the ocean to take your hook until I reach Manu'maniti, then it will give it back to you. I love you and I will always be with you, please do not forget that. Moana."_

He threw the note to the side and bellowed, "GIVE ME MY HOOK!"

The ocean didn't respond.

"She's going to her death, don't you get that?! Give me my hook and maybe I can save her!"

The crescent head rose up, but it sadly shook its head and then disappeared again.

"WHAT GOOD ARE YOU?!" He screamed as the tears ran down his face. Without his hook, he had no powers to shapeshift and catch her. _...But maybe I don't have to!_

He turned and bolted back to the villagers who were dancing and celebrating blissfully. But when Maui came running in between them, everyone stared.

"Are there any other boats left on this island?!" He shouted, startling everyone.

Someone timidly replied, "No, all of the canoes were stolen by the Fefe Tele, so..."

"GAH!" he cried out in frustration, "Fine! Who among you is the best craftsmen?!"

Four men raised their hands and came forth.

"How soon can you build a single person canoe?"

They looked at each other before one of them said, "Two, maybe three days."

"That's not quick enough, what if you had the materials right in front of you?"

"Then it would only take a day."

Maui turned to the nearest tree, picked up an axe lying nearby, and chopped it down with one swing. The villagers stared in fear as he threw it down at the feet of the craftsmen, "Here you go, so get to work! HURRY!"

They ran off in fear to grab their tools when Tui and Sina came up to him, "Maui, what's wrong?"

Taking a deep, defeated breath, he turned to explain, "Moana is gone..."

 ***PAGE BREAK***

It was approaching nine days since the victory on Kahoka and Moana squinted into the distance, desperately seeking the maelstrom she remembered Maui leading her to. When she saw the familiar little island, the bittersweet memories of a few weeks before filled her mind and she smiled. She didn't regret spending her precious moments with Maui, and she never would. She shook herself out of her melancholy and refocused, realizing the entrance was only a few hours away. Quick as she could, she pulled the sheet and the sail caught the last gusts of wind which helped to speed along her journey. Finally, the weather around her began to turn dark and dangerous. Before it got too rough, she grabbed the loose line and tied it to the mast before tying the other end around her waist. It would be harder to hold on to this time since she had to steer the boat before she could really secure herself, but at least she was _mostly_ secure. She got closer and closer to the edge of the maelstrom and looked down at its eye.

 _... I'm ready._

With tears in her eyes and one final push on her oar, she began her terrifying descent into the abyss.

 ***PAGE BREAK***

Maui tacked on the water for hours, begging the Gods to change the winds direction and give him more speed. He was only a day behind her, but that was enough to give Moana a good head start and he had no idea how long he'd actually been travelling. He cursed himself over and over for being so foolish as to momentarily forget his hook, giving her the perfect chance to get the jump on him. But nothing would stop him, he _had_ to get to Moana before she reached Manu'maniti even if it meant he had to swim the whole way there. And with what luck tacking was doing, he was starting to consider that option.

Finally the wind blew in a more favorable direction and he immediately jumped up to adjust the sail when he heard a loud _*clunk*_ on the deck. He turned to see his hook lying there, sopping wet, with the ocean's crescent head looking down at it.

"... No," he whispered as he deftly walked back to pick it up. He looked to the ocean, "She's...?"

The wave nodded sorrowfully.

Maui couldn't breathe. He suddenly lost all of his strength and dropped to his knees as he felt an agonizing pain rip through his chest. His body racked in uncontrollable sobs when he raised his head and cried, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The hook dropped from his hands and his body followed. The boat floated aimlessly for hours as its only occupant cried excruciatingly painful tears. What could he do now? The Leviathan would never give up such a powerful and innocent soul such as hers, especially not to the Demigod that had caused him so much grief. The Gods would never interfere either, no one would help him. He sat up and stared ahead at the open ocean, wondering what he could possibly do now that all meaning of life was gone. _She_ was truly gone, it was all over.

Maui looked down at his chest to see Mini Maui crying, looking up at the depiction of Moana next to him. The little tattoo grabbed her and hugged her, holding on to the only thing left of the real Moana. But it wasn't enough, not to the human part of him. Mini Maui looked up into his eyes and glared, picking up his little hook and shifting himself into a little hawk. Maui wiped his tears away and furrowed his eyebrows, "You're right. This isn't over."

He grabbed his hook and swung it wildly, changing himself into a giant hawk. With one great flap of his wings, he was airborne. And he knew exactly where he was going.

Authors Notes: Don't worry, it's not over yet. I would never leave these two to that kind of fate :) tune in tomorrow for the big finale, and don't forget to review!


	12. She is the Way

**I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.**

Once in hawk form, Maui reached Manu'maniti's entrance much quicker and didn't hesitate to dive straight into the eye of the maelstrom. His eyes were fixed on the center; the winds sending the cutting rain into his vision couldn't even deter him, though the guardians tried. He looked on as a demon of shadow and ocean, wispy as blood in water with blue, slit eyes and claws like blades snarled at him and reached out to grab him as he made his descent.

Whether it was madness or his resolve that kept him from closing his eyes, he shifted back into his human counterpart and with one ferocious slice of his hook, he beheaded the hellish guardian and continued to dive through the storm. Another of the ferocious creatures appeared before him and tried to swipe at him to which he decapitated it as well. Only one more of the monsters attempted to stop him by swallowing him whole, and with a loud, "CHEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOOO!" he cut through the demons innards to the other side, then he was through. He landed in the slimy, muddy swamp and immediately bellowed, "TAITO! COME OUT AND FACE ME!"

Only the quiet, eerie sounds of Manu'maniti's swamps answered him.

"TAITOOOOOOOO!" He shrieked, a fire burning in his eyes that, if instigated, gave him the will to destroy anything that approached him. He couldn't be too late, he just had to have gotten there before the Leviathan could consume her. He looked all around and prepared to summon the Leviathan as he had before when a mournful, brittle voice behind him spoke.

" _I've been expecting you_."

He turned suddenly to see the ancient demon standing there surrounded by his legions of past souls; while he hadn't completely regained his monstrous form and the deformed man was still present, his claw was now accompanied by tentacles for legs again.

"Taito," Maui menacingly walked towards him, "Give. Her. Back!"

" _You have no power to command me, Demigod,"_ the Leviathan taunted, enjoying watching Maui suffer, _"And she made her choice, the bargain is complete."_

Maui stopped short and reached for his chest, feeling as though someone had wrapped their hand around his heart and squeezed it.

"... She's..."

 _"_ _Her soul was more powerful than I imagined it would be, and it was my pleasure to consume her and dispose of her pathetic mortal body."_

Maui dropped to his knees, unable to breathe. Rage filled inside of him as the monstrous demon continued to jeer at him.

 _"_ _She told me that you would follow her here, and that I was not to harm you when you did. I asked her how she could possibly care for such a pitiful Demigod such as yourself and she simply answered 'because I love him.'"_

Tears streamed from Maui's eyes, he couldn't stop himself from shaking as the Leviathan's story physically pained him; every word was a stab that he seemed to bleed from with no way of healing.

 _"_ _You should have heard her go on about how much she loved you and would make the bargain again if it meant saving your life..."_ Taito smiled triumphantly as he watched the intruder shrink in agony, _"... It was pitiful."_

Maui wanted to snap; he reached for his hook and stood up, ready to tear the Leviathan apart limb from limb with his bare hands, but something held him back. It wasn't Mini Maui, he even looked to the little depiction who seemed to wish he could jump off of his skin and attack Taito himself. No, it wasn't the miniature of himself that stopped him, it was the tattoo above him, the tattoo of Moana. He knew what she would say to him: that killing in anger was not who he was, that he knew who he was. She would say that no matter how much he hurt, no matter how badly he might want to, he could not kill another in blind rage. His tear stained face could barely make out the little frame of the woman he loved anymore, but what he knew some part of her was trying to tell him was true. He looked up at the Leviathan, who was waiting for an attack (which would give him an excuse to kill Maui anyway), and instead of obeying that overwhelming need for revenge, he threw his hook to the ground behind him and got on his knees, bowing humbly before the demon.

Taito looked at him, puzzled by his reaction. He should have attacked, he was certain he would. But instead, he had bowed to him, _"... I don't understand."_

Maui looked up and sniffed, not attempting to hide how broken his heart truly was, "I cannot bring her back."

The Leviathan watched him curiously.

"I cannot defeat you," Maui continued, his voice cracking, "And I know that you wouldn't give her back to me even if I did... so I wish to join her."

Taito's mouth dropped in surprise.

"I offer you my soul freely Taito. It is not innocent and powerful like Moana's, but I offer it to you just the same," he looked up into the horrifying orange, glowing eyes and continued, "Then at least I will be with her in some way."

Taito was stunned, _"... You would give up your hook, your immortality, your LIFE, and be lost forever just for the chance of being with her?"_

Maui looked down and nodded, "Yes, I would. ... Please, don't deny me this. Take me too."

Silence filled the air. Maui didn't even bother to look up as he awaited the fate of being a lost soul. He breathed deeply and calmly, waiting for something to happen.

Taito watched him and felt something so ancient it was almost unfamiliar, it was a tear leave his fiery eye and roll down his monstrous cheek. The desire to destroy the Demigod that had humiliated him had consumed him for weeks since making the bargain with the mortal woman, but now it had suddenly vanished. He couldn't understand it; suddenly he didn't burn with hatred anymore, a feeling he had never before experienced filled him instead. He could only describe it as... peace. Total and complete peace radiated through him like the warm sun, melting the ice he had surrounded his heart with. With that knowledge, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Maui shielded his eyes when a blinding white light completely surrounded him. When it vanished, he opened his eyes to see what he was certain was still Manu'maniti, only it was no longer so dreary and swampy. The vines and trees still surrounded him, but the dark, green hues were gone. There was no more mud to trudge through, just rock and grass. He heard something flap behind him so he turned to see what it was and started; what should have been a skeleton of a bird was in fact a fully formed Ibis; it's white feathers ruffled as it watched him and cocked its head to the side in curiosity.

 _... Okay... not what I was expecting,_ he thought to himself. He wasn't sure what would happen when Taito consumed his soul, but he was positive this wasn't it. He looked down below the bird and saw his hook still sitting where he had tossed it, _Okay, now things are REALLY weird._ He turned to look for Taito or _someone_ that he might be able to ask what was going on, but who he saw instead made his heart stop beating for a moment.

Dawned in a golden lava-lava and top with a beautiful white plumeria flower in her dark, raven hair stood Moana. Her beautiful brown skin seemed to shimmer as she walked towards him. She took his breath away as he watched her. She opened her arms and smiled, "... Hey."

He jumped up and ran over to her, wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her all over until neither of them could breathe. Tears streamed from his face as he did and he didn't think he'd ever let her go, too afraid of losing her again.

"You're alive," he choked out, the emotional lump in his throat making it hard to speak.

She chuckled and placed her hands on his face, "I'm sorry that I tricked you. I didn't see any other way."

Maui smiled and shook his head, "I would have done the same thing."

Moana smiled and held him tightly, laying her head on his chest and revelling in the feeling of him stroking her hair.

Though their reunion overwhelmed him, curiosity took over and cut it short, "Wait a minute. Where are we? Where's Taito?"

Moana looked around and furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly aware of the situation as well, "... I'm not entirely sure. The last thing I remember is standing there before him and then feeling..." she shivered "an unseen force... sort of separating me from my body, then the next thing I knew it felt like I was being burned alive constantly... for what seemed like ages. And now... I'm here with you."

Maui furrowed his eyebrows, "... I didn't feel anything like that. I was just here talking to him. I told him to take me too, I even threw my hook away so that he knew I meant it."

"The two of you have set me free," came an unfamiliar voice.

They both turned to see a handsome man they didn't recognize walking towards them: his dark hair was pulled up into a bun, a red lava-lava tied around his waist, and a tattoo in the shape of a swirling spiral was on his shoulder.

Though she could swear she'd never seen him before, he felt familiar to Moana, "... Taito?"

He smiled and nodded.

"What?" Maui gasped, completely confused.

Taito chuckled, "Perhaps I could never move on to my next life because the Gods wanted me here, but instead of embracing that destiny I distorted it and became a monster. Now, I will do my part to help each soul that comes to Manu'maniti to fulfil their debt to the Gods so that they may move on."

Moana furrowed her eyebrows, "... But, where are the others?"

He smiled in return, "They have fulfilled their debts long ago, but they could never leave because I would not let them. Once I let love and peace replace the anguish and hatred I felt, I was able to let them go. It is just me and him down here now."

They watched as he pointed to the giant bird sitting on the vine near them who screeched in return.

The three of them chuckled and focused their attention on each other again.

"And you," Taito continued, addressing Moana, "You have done something that no mortal has ever done before. You have released millions of souls, including my own, from purgatory."

She stared in amazement, humbled by his praise.

"And the Gods have decided to reward you for that."

Maui furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Taito smiled, "You are the Demigod of the wind and sea, and now she is the Demigoddess of the moon."

Moana's eyes opened wide, "What?!"

Maui echoed her, "What?!"

Taito chuckled, "It's true. And the two of you don't belong down here, plus I have work to do. There are a lot of changes I'll have to make to this place before any new recruits come down here. So, this is goodbye... and good luck to you both."

Before they could reply, they were swept up in crystal clear water that surrounded them, and suddenly they were on an island. They looked around and smiled as they recognized the familiar spot and watched as a canoe appeared on the beach.

"... I guess the ocean really did know what it was doing," Maui snickered.

Moana turned and looked at him, completely puzzled by his statement, "What?"

"You once told me that the ocean saved me because it recognized me as someone worth saving. Well, I guess it chose you because it recognized who you would become one day."

She smiled and turned out to face the water, giggling as the crescent head appeared and began to splash around for joy in front of her, "I guess it did."

She looked down at her hands, wondering what powers she might have as a Demigoddess. _Moon... that doesn't tell me much. What sort of powers could do with the moon?_ The only thing that made sense about her title was that it was almost opposite to Maui's, so in a way they complimented each other. Pondering it, she didn't notice that he had gotten completely behind her until she turned around and gasped to see him so close.

 _She's a Demigoddess... she's like me,_ he smiled inwardly, _We'll always be together, and I'll never lose her again._ He didn't miss the chance to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her tight to him, his eyes searing into hers with intense heat. She shivered as she felt herself get warm in odd places.

"... We should probably go tell my parents that I'm okay," she said breathlessly, "Because I assume you told them what I was doing when you figured it out."

"I did," he growled, a mischievous smile crossing his face, "And yeah we should... tomorrow."

She didn't even get the chance to breath as his lips crashed down onto hers: needy and desperate to taste her completely. So utterly swept away by the passion he conveyed, Moana closed her eyes and kissed Maui back...

The End

Authors Notes: I apologize if anyone feels this chapter was too short, but I thought it was best to not beat around the bush and to also keep with the true nature of Disney's Moana :) I believe Maui would only kill when he ABSOLUTELY has to, and in this case he didn't feel the need to kill because he knew it wouldn't bring her back. Also, I left her powers open to your imagination ;) what do you think she might be able to do? Thank you all for reading my very first fanfiction and for the wonderful praise you've been giving me, you've inspired me to start posting the stories I make, so I'll go ahead and throw this out there: are there any fanfictions you would like me to write about? I've seen quite a few movies so I'm open to suggestions and I'll do my best to make them as good as this one if not better :P Please review, I would like to know your thoughts about the finale! Aloha all ;)


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